


Shades of Grey

by Houseofloki



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, College AU, Future chapters will be mature, Loki and Thor have sibling issues, Love/Hate Relationship, M/M, Multi, Teen and Up for the time being, mature content in future chapters, sexual tension is at an all time high
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2018-09-12 23:24:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 38,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9095284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Houseofloki/pseuds/Houseofloki
Summary: Ever since high school, Tony Stark has always found joy in teasing Thor's little brother, Loki who has developed a hatred for him. When they all leave for the same college, Loki's plans to leave his brother and his annoying group of friends out of his life proves harder than he thought when he's forced to share a room with none other than Tony Stark.





	1. Unknown Brother

~ Shades of Grey~ 

**Unknown Brother**

Loki Laufeyson always prided himself in being more sensible and intellectually advanced than all the other hormone-driven students in his high school. He was especially skilled in English literature and read Shakespeare on a daily basis – in fact, it was a rare occasion to find Loki without a Shakespeare book in his hand anywhere – and he could always hit back with a witty remark on any given subject. His words were his weapon and could make anyone look like an ignorant, uninformed moron under his nose - quite literally given that he was about one of the tallest guys in the school.

So, being armed with an arsenal containing wit, intelligence and uncanny good looks, one would assume that Loki had a relatively interesting and easy life. Of course, that wasn't all true; having found out at the start of the last year of junior high that your father favoured your older brother because you were adopted wouldn't exactly make his life all happy-go-lucky. As if that wasn't bad enough, having said older brother pretend as if you were related and still act as if everything was bright and positive all the time was sure to have the opposite effect on him. Thor didn't understand Loki's pain and that angered Loki more than anything. In fact, it irked Loki every single minute of every day he had to see his 'family' knowing that they had lied to him all these years. He felt a little moronic for not figuring it out sooner, what with him only being a few months younger than Thor, what other explanation could have proved true since his mother Frigga surely did not bear two children only 8 months apart in birth. That and the fact that he was the only one in his family to have black hair and green eyes.

To deepen his discomfort and frustration even more, every single aspect of his life had to be invaded by his oaf of a brother, Thor. Despite Loki's wishes, everyone referred to him as 'Thor's little brother', of course not knowing of his adoption. Loki always scoffed whenever Thor would pass through the hallways greeting everyone as he went acting like he was a king. Thor never failed to irritate him even when he was doing nothing at all. He always had a childish smile on his face and was rarely ever miserable because he was the one who had everything; his father's admiration, everyone's respect and was the center on their attention most days.

Loki had nothing; he was second next to Thor, if anyone bothered to acknowledge him that is and his father always failed to praise his talents whenever Thor was in the picture. Odin had always said he loved them both equally, but Loki would have truly believed that if he wasn't always being treated like he was inferior to his older 'not-brother'. To make him feel even more useless, Thor always took it upon himself to defend Loki, thinking that his little brother was a damsel that needed saving. As if Loki couldn't protect himself and fight his own battles, Thor was always quick to scare anyone who even dared give Loki a twitchy eye.

And of course, there were Thor's friends. Loki, ever since the start of high school, had acknowledged the fact that Thor's friends were not his friends so as a result always ended up avoiding them. Plus, what was the point of being friends with them when Thor was there? No one would notice him next to his big bulk of a brother.  


The only one he actually didn't mind was Natasha Romanoff, a mysterious Russian beauty who had transferred to their school in freshman year; she matched his intellect and his wit in every way and it didn't hurt that she was physically very skilled. Her and Loki got on surprisingly well considering who she hung out with but he had always admired her personality because she was determined, stubborn much like himself, very cunning and didn't take shit from anybody, especially not the guys in her company since she was one of the only girls who they actually liked and listened to. She could always be found training in the gym or being trailed by a very broody Clint Barton.  


Clint was a very serious personality, always watching and wary, acting as if someone was about to jump on him and stab him in the neck. He was a keen archer and spent as much time as possible either with Natasha or playing with his bow and arrows. Everyone always wondered who he would pick when given the choice between them. Still, the two were inseparable and to everyone else, it was unclear whether they were a couple or just close friends but no one doubted that they would not leave each other's side if they could help it.  


Then there was Steve Rogers - or as everyone referred to him, 'Cap' – who was a bit too innocent for his own good. He was a morally clean citizen who never failed to be defensive when others needed help. Loki would have appreciated that about the blond but it reminded him too much of Thor who was usually too overprotective that it got too annoying. He had never fully understood the concept of sex (which is why everyone was certain he was a virgin) and was always teased about it when anything too inappropriate made him uncomfortable. He would usually be the one to talk his friends out of doing anything stupid but then ended up doing it with them anyway. That was always what usually happened which is why he always wondered why he even bothered trying to stop them in the first place.

There was also Bruce Banner. No one knew exactly how to act around Bruce; most of the time he was a calm and collected young man who was even more intelligent that Loki. He was a bright scientist with a passion for science and always tried to stay out of trouble. However, whenever things would turn south, Bruce usually lost his temper so insanely fast that, after seeing the first time he lost it, people usually tried to avoid working him up for fear of provoking him. That had only happened on rare occasions because Bruce always had a small routine to keep him calm and relaxed. It was unnerving to Loki: how much rage could be contained in such a timid and sensible personality. Well, it was always the one you least expect.

Loki really had no problem with any of Thor's friends personally, just the fact that they were his friends which yes, Loki knew seemed a bit shallow but he couldn't help it.  


And then there was Tony Stark. The one person Loki did not feel guilty hating. Tony fucking Stark; son of Stark Industries CEO Howard Stark, heir to a multi-billionaire company, playboy, genius and professional asshole. His name sent Loki's heart into frantic beats, and not the kind that people felt when they went on dates or when they share their first kiss. No, it was the kind of energy that people felt when someone has just punched you in the face and you feel so angry that you see red and feel like you want to stick a knife through that person's eye ten times over. That kind. He could rival Loki's wit and sarcasm with his own dirty innuendos and quick remarks which proved to be great entertainment whenever they broke out in an argument in class. Tony Stark was a devil, a sadist, a villain. Of course Loki was the only one who had such low opinions of him. Everyone else seemed to think he was Jesus incarnated, except Jesus didn't fuck girls behind the bleachers during school hours, or glorified in his 'fame' by autographing pictures of himself and charging freshmen students $20 for each copy, or got drunk at the prom and stormed the stage singing 'Like A Virgin' dedicating the song publicly to Loki (much to Thor's dismay).

Loki always desperately tried to avoid Tony; it just didn't help that Tony was in his every class. Tony always made it his personal mission to rub it in Loki's face that he was better at him in Science and that his teachers had named him a 'modern day Einstein' because of his genius that he had inherited from his father.  


However, during their second year in the school all the teachers had stopped stroking his ego because of Tony's tendencies to behave like an asshole during the day and the school seemed to think that he would stop if the teachers weren't praising him anymore. It didn't do anything; all it did was give Tony several trips to the principal's office but he never got thrown out because his father had made a very big donation to the school's science department just as long as Tony didn't get expelled.  


Tony, somehow, managed to get Loki in trouble during class. It was like his cruel hobby. Loki usually sat at the desk by the right corner at the back of the classroom and then Tony would arrive, taking the space beside him. The teacher would start her lesson, Tony would start whispering nonsense and bullshit in Loki's ear, anything that would irritate the younger boy, and then Loki would hit back with a retort and tell him he was being a jerk. It would start off their daily whispered battle of wits. Loki always wondered if it was a teacher thing in their school to not hear Tony whispering but to hear when Loki retaliated. Loki would get told off in front of everyone and Tony would be wallowing in his 'achievements' and be sat there with a self-satisfied smirk that never failed to make Loki see red. It was almost a daily routine for Tony and Loki's poor classes to have to witness their fights and their disagreements.

Loki loathed Tony. Tony loved making Loki loathe him.

And now, the thought of leaving all that behind made him sigh in relief. No more being called 'Hamlet' or 'Macbeth' whenever he enters his English classroom, no more having to hear about how many girls he's fucked at the end of the week and no more having to be the victim of Tony's stupid taunts about how Loki secretly lusts for him.  


The only problem was that they would all be attending the same university. Loki didn't let that hinder his happiness though. With any luck, Loki would be put into a different dorm building than them. None of them would be sharing his classes because they all chose different majors as Thor had pointed out. As long as he didn't run into them all in the campus too much, he would be settled and try to live his life how he wants; no more just being Thor's little brother, no more Tony's teasing and he could finally have his own life without his family breathing down his neck all the time.

"Brother!"

Loki snapped out of his mixed thoughts and a frown placed itself on his face. He turned to look at Thor who had a grin on his face.

"What?" He asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"We are here!" Thor bellowed, clapping him hard on the shoulder, not noticing his little brother's wince.  


Loki glanced up at the gates of the university through the window and sighed. He hated that Thor followed him here but was relieved that he finally had a chance of escape from having to see his family every day. Frigga sat in the passenger seat and turned back to look at her two young sons. Her eyes glazed over and she clamped down on her lip to stop from sobbing. Thor held her hand.

"Mother, do not fret. We are just moving out of the house, not leaving you behind forever. We will see you during the holidays. You and Father have nothing to worry about," Thor assured her.

"I just wish that your father was here to bid you farewell. If he could only wake and leave that damned hospital. Now my children are leaving me too, is there no end to my heartache?" Frigga whimpered, wiping at her tears.

"Mother, please do not cry. We will see you soon enough and I do not doubt Father will have woken up by then. I will take good care of myself and Loki," Thor said.

She smiled gently at him and then turned to look at Loki. Her youngest made a noise in the back of his throat.

"I do not need to be under your care, Thor," Loki spat, "I am perfectly capable of protecting myself. Or are you just too thick headed to notice that I have my own body which I can look after. We are not joined at the hip!" Loki hissed.

Frigga winced. "Loki, please. This is the last time I will see you both for another few months, I want to see you happy."

"How can I be happy when I am in your presence?" Loki bit.

Frigga winced and her eyes filled with fresh tears. "Loki please, do not-"

"Loki, this is not the time for this," Thor interrupted, softly touching his brother's shoulder.

Loki shrugged it off.

"I apologise, Mother. I did not mean it," Loki said, not meeting her eyes.

"I know you didn't, my sweet boy. It is alright," Frigga assured him, grabbing for his hand and squeezing it.

Loki squeezed back effortlessly and noticed Thor smiling at them both out of the corner of his eyes. He ignored the older boy and with a soft 'goodbye' to Frigga, he stepped out and unloaded his luggage from the trunk of the car, wanting to be out of there as soon as was possible. Thor followed behind him but Loki had already started walking away before he could get a chance to catch up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Oh my goodness, I was SO very tempted to write 'happy-go-Loki' instead of 'happy-go-lucky' at the start. Sorry, I know that was a short introduction but I just wanted to establish a few things here such as Loki's adoption and his feelings towards Odin and Thor and also of course, his feelings towards Tony before we move onto Chapter 1. More character interaction in the next chapter, I promise. Just bear with me, my chapters tend to vary from long to short to long because I tend to shorten or lengthen dialogue for dramatic effect.
> 
> Also, I am going to be introducing a few familiar (or not so familiar) faces from Marvel Comics that will be imperative for this story to work and become interesting for you to read (I hope!). And I will usually not write author's notes at the beginning of each chapter however if there is dark content ahead, I will put up a warning at the start. Just telling you now because there WILL be dark content ahead. Rating of this story will definitely change once I finish future chapters.
> 
> On a last note, the title of this story has absolutely NOTHING to do with 50 Shades of Grey. The title came to me at a random moment and I hadn't even realised it was like the book so do not think this has any relevance to it. If you want to know the meaning of the title, please ask.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, unless stated otherwise. All known characters are owned by Marvel and their creators. This story has been published to entertain and no profit is or will ever be made.


	2. Tony Fucking Stark

~ Shades of Grey ~

**Tony Fucking Stark ******

Upon arriving through the doors, Loki noticed how big the space was in the room, or rather hall, and looked around at the busy stalls scattered around. There were people behind them handing out little packets for the new students to collect. As he approached the stalls which were set up in alphabetical order, Loki wondered whether he should approach the 'O' or the 'L' table. Then he realised that regardless of him finding out about his true parentage, he was still legally 'Loki Odinson' much to his disdain and with a grumble, made his way towards the 'O' table.

"Odinson," he told the guy behind the table, trying to keep the disgust out of his voice.

After a moment, the guy located two packets in his box.

"You Loki or Thor?" the guy asked.

"Loki."

"Ah, here you go."

Loki took his pack from the guy's outstretched hand. He glanced at the front of the leaflet inside and saw the words 'Welcome To Your Future' in bold at the front.

"This includes your dorm room number, class schedule and student parking card and other introductory items. There's a little key in a brown envelope for your dorm. The only other person who has one is your roommate so you're safe," the guy informed him.

"What if I would like to exchange one roommate for another? Just maybe,I don't know, if I am not compatible with the one you have paired me with?" Loki asked. It never hurt to check what could be done if his roommate was a total psycho.

"Sorry, the university don't really allow room changes what with the hassle and all. However, if you're really desperate and plead a good case you can talk to the Dean's assistant," the guy replied, noticing Loki's shoulders slumping a little and his expression falling.

"Wonderful," Loki murmured under his breath.

"I'm Phil, by the way. Phil Coulson. Welcome," the sandy blond-haired student introduced himself with a warm smile.

Loki nodded, forced a small smile to form on his lips and turned away without a word. He looked around and found a little bench by the door and walked over to it, sitting down with a breath of relief and stretched his long legs out in front of him. He held his pack in one hand and took his dorm room information sheet in the other.

_Dorm building 4, room 348._

Upon seeing this, Loki feared that he would be put into a room with Thor. He couldn't bear the thought of being stuck in a small room with the oaf for company. He would probably keep Loki awake all night talking about how lucky he is that they were rooming together.

He couldn't be stuck in a room with Thor, he just couldn't.

Washing the annoying thought away from his mind, he looked up at the chaos before him and spotted a few too many eyes looking his way. He frowned and wondered what would cause so much attention.

It was then that he noticed he was sitting beside the entrance door and upon hearing the sound of an all too familiar voice belonging to the person standing in the doorway, Loki slowly lifted his eyes to glance at the man.

"What's up, Dracula?"

_Tony Stark._

Loki's eyes glazed over in anger and annoyance upon seeing him and his fists clenched the pack in his hand.

"Stark," Loki spat.

"A 'hello Tony' would be nice or maybe even a 'good morning' but I gather you're not that kind of person to be so civil so I'll just settle with 'Stark'," Tony mocked Loki's British accent with a wave of his hand.

The younger man sneered. "What are you doing here so early? I was under the impression you don't wake till midday, considering you're so bloody lazy."

"Why, I've come to see you of course! My favourite person in the whole world!"

"Shame you're not mine."

Tony pouted. "Now don't be so rude this early in the morning, dear. I might cry and tell Thor. Where is Goldilocks by the way?"

Loki scoffed. "Tell him your childish troubles all you want. I don't answer to him."

"Still got those brother issues, huh?" Tony asked, stretching out his arms over his head.

"It is none of your business, Stark. Now leave me be, I've seen too much of your arrogant face already," Loki spat and turned to look at his phone for something to do.

Tony smirked. "You know if you wanted to tell me that my face is pretty you can just say so. No need to mask your attraction to me with harsh words, Loki."

Loki looked up in horror. Tony's smirk grew; he knew just how to push Loki's buttons.

"Attracted to _you_? Please, Stark. Don't make me laugh, I might just puke all over you," Loki told him, staring up at Tony and wishing he could just smack that smirk off his mouth.

"Oh come now. Just admit you have the hots for me and I might just consider sleeping with you," Tony gave Loki a wink. Tony walked to stand in front of him and crossed his arms across his chest, watching Loki's expression of disgust and waiting for his reply.

"You are seriously delusional, Stark. And disgusting."

"Last chance; you might never get another one."

"You are the last person on this Earth that I would even consider sleeping with."

"Even after Thor? Ew, isn't that incest...kind of?" Tony said, knowing Loki would get mad.

And just as he expected, Loki's pale face turned red; in anger or embarrassment, Tony did not know but it was enough to get him to snicker. This time, Loki stood up fully and towered over Tony. He was only two inches smaller but with the way Loki was looking at him now, he seemed smaller. He didn't back away though; he stood there smirking as Loki fixed him with a dark glare.

"You are seriously the most childish, most annoying, most goddamned insolent little-" Loki started.

Some students nearby turned to look at them both to watch what was happening but neither noticed, too caught up in the little argument that Tony was egging on.

"Careful, swearing is frowned upon in this establishment," Tony interrupted, waving his index finger at Loki like a child being told off.

"Argh!" Loki cried in frustration. "Get out of my face or I swear to gods Stark, I will-"

"You'll what? Bore me to death with Shakespeare?" Tony smiled mockingly, enjoying the way Loki's eyes glistened with rage.

Ah, good to know nothing's changed since high school.

"Do not mock me, Stark or I'll-"

"Brother! Tony!"

Both turned to look at the door and saw Thor coming in, followed by a very grumpy Bruce and a smiling Steve.

"What's up, Point Break?" Tony ignored Loki and turned to Thor who was beaming at them both, still not noticing Loki's dark expression.

"You are here, Son of Stark. I did not expect you till this afternoon," Thor said, clapping him on the shoulder as was Thor's little habit of doing.

Tony feigned shock. "I'm hurt, Rapunzel. It's the first day and you're already expecting the worst of me."

"Everyone expects the worst of you, Tony. Can't really blame them, can you?" Steve interjected.

"Cap, you know it pains my heart to hear such words coming out of your mouth," Tony continued.

Loki scoffed. "I didn't know you had a heart."

Tony pouted at Loki and caught Steve snickering behind Bruce's back. With that, Loki walked away in a strop, his morning quickly being dumped on by the only other person than Thor who could do such a great job of it.

"Brother, where are you heading?" Thor shouted after him, about to follow when Steve put his hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

"Leave him, Thor," Steve said calmly.

The blond sent a glare towards Tony. Steve knew how much he liked to annoy Loki. In turn, Tony put his hands up as if to say 'I'm innocent' but as was always the case, he wasn't.

Thor looked away from Loki's retreating figure and dropped his head in sadness. Steve wordlessly patted him on the shoulder as a form of comfort then ushered them all towards the stalls where nearby, a horde of students were waiting and all at once, panicked in excitement when Tony Stark came by.

Tony, an expert in all things related to fame and popularity, smirked. Bruce looked on disinterested and Thor lagged behind, his head hung low.

"This is going to be an eventful day, I just know it," Steve muttered to himself.

oOo 

Once Loki was away from the crowded room and away from any nearby groups of students, he growled loudly to himself and crumpled the sheet in his hand, forgetting for a second what it was.

After a moment, he breathed deeply and washed all thoughts of Tony Stark from his mind. He wouldn't ruin this day for Loki, or the next hundreds of days to come during his studies, for that matter. He just wanted to be away from them all, from anything that reminded him of his high school years under Tony's torture and being hidden in Thor's overly sized shadow.

Regaining his earlier state of calm, he unfolded the wrinkled paper in his hand and made his way out of a nearby door to start searching for 'Dorm building 4, Room 348'.

It wasn't a very easy job at first. The buildings had no labels on them that were visible from afar and they were all very old and looked similar, except for the library which had been apparently modernised and had a clear enough sign at the front saying 'Library'. Loki had a feeling this was going to become one of his favourite places around campus. Passing by the expectedly quiet building, he continued walking and glancing down at the map in his hand, trying to pinpoint exactly where this dorm was and exactly where he was.

Not being able to find just a single building seemed stupid and Loki never liked feeling stupid. He looked around the area for one moment and considered just giving up and asking one of the students nearby to show him.

"You lost, pretty boy?"

Loki snapped to attention. He glanced around his shoulder to see who was talking to him before turning fully to face a tall, long-haired blonde girl standing before him, arms crossed under her quite large chest, her blue eyes boring into his with her eyebrow raised in expectation of his reply.

"I- what?" Loki asked, caught off guard for a second.

"Are you lost?'," the girl repeated, pointing to the map in his hand.

"No, I most certainly am not."

"Kinda looks like you are. You need help?"

"No, I am not," he insisted, "I can take care of myself, thank you." Loki curtly replied then turned to walk away. She followed.

"I've watched you for a few minutes now. You've been wandering around like a lost puppy and now I've decided to take pity on you," the girl said, smiling up at him.

Loki looked down at her, eyebrow raised and a sneer forming on his face. "Thank you for your offer but I think I can find my way around. And I wasn't 'wandering like a lost puppy'. I was merely exploring the campus," He lied, walking faster to leave her behind but she matched his pace.

Great, another annoying person he had to be faced with this early in the morning. After that little tension in the car between his family and that small scuffle with Tony, his morning was turning sour, his patience was running too thin already and he really was not in the mood to talk to anyone because he tended to snap and lose his temper more than he usually did.

She ignored his rude tone and introduced herself. "Hm, I'm Amora by the way."

"I did not ask."

"I'm telling you anyway."

No reply.

"You're Loki, right?"

"How did you-"

"It's on your student pack."

Loki placed the folder under his arm, away from her sight and she sighed.

"Are you always this cranky or is it just because it's your first day?"

"I wish to be left alone so I'm begging you, leave ."

"Ask me nicely."

Loki huffed. "Please, go away."

Amora scoffed. "Look, you can either wander around here for another hour or so or you can just tell me what building you're looking for. This place is pretty big, believe me."

"If I agree to your request will you leave me alone afterwards?"

"I can't promise anything but I'll try."

Loki made a 'hmph' noise and finally gave up, handing her the dorm information sheet and she made a noise of delight. She looked at the sheet and Loki crossed his arms as she read over it.

"Monroe Building, that's Building 4! Great, you're with me! I'm in room 345." Amora squealed in delight, unconsciously squeezing his arm a little too hard and made him flinch away from her. 

"Sorry, I get a little too excited sometimes."

"Yes I can see," Loki replied, rubbing his arm and taking back his sheet of paper.

Amora smirked and nudged him. "Now didn't I tell you that I could help? And to think you were being so stuck up at first."

Loki growled. "I am not stuck up, thank you very much. Now if you would so kindly take me to this building, we can go our separate ways afterwards and never speak to each other again."

"Fine, if you want to be that way," Amora pouted and then started walking, leading the way to dorm building 4.

oOo

As they made their way slowly towards their destination, Loki found himself becoming more interested in Amora by the second as she kept going on and on about her passion for books, the arts and about her family life, specifically the fact mentioned about her unknown parentage which seemed to drag Loki in even more. He admitted he shouldn't have been so rude towards her at the beginning.

"So, you do not know your real parents' identity?" Loki questioned.

Amora nodded and shrugged. "Yeah, but who needs 'em? I have my sister Lorelei and she's all I need to worry about, especially because she gets herself into all sorts of trouble I can't even count how many times."

Loki sighed. "I too, have a sibling - my brother. Although we are not of blood, I admit I did love him like my true family before."

"Before what?"

"Before I found out that I was adopted and that he was not truly my relation. Nor my mother...or my father."

Amora frowned. "You know, just because he's not your real brother doesn't mean you have to stop loving him."

"It is a quite complicated and long story. I do no wish to speak of it at the moment."

"It's alright. I've actually been wondering how we got to the topic of family anyway. 10 minutes ago you found me annoying," Amora laughed.

Loki shrugged. "Yes well that was before. I do find you quite interesting now."

Amora laughed even more at his honesty. "I get the feeling that doesn't happen a lot. I'm honoured."

"You should be," Loki said and received a small smack on his arm from the blonde.

Loki had to admit that this morning was turning out better than before. Maybe he didn't have to worry about anything since he had made a friend in Amora and what's better was that he could relate to her through their familial issues. What she had said was true; he didn't have a lot of people he knew that were interesting enough to hang out with for more than a few hours, or minutes even because no one else could match his intellect or could talk about the things he enjoyed and loved. Now here was Amora, only knowing her for a few minutes and he had already told her a significant part of his life. A part of him regretted telling her so quickly but she seemed nice enough and seemed to know of his pain.

"So here we are. The Munroe Building. Big isn't it? It's the biggest dorm building out of all of them."

They stopped in front of a wide semi-refurbished classical 10 storey building, the slowly decolouring limestone giving it a traditional look. There were black framed windows and a glass-walled ground floor, surrounded by 3 other connecting buildings of the same appearance. Amora pointed at a gold plaque by the side of the wall that said 'Munroe Building - South dorm room - Building 4.'

"What an inconveniently small labelled building."

"The name's actually in big writing on the other side of the building, facing the main road so it's easier to spot, but not ideal for new students such as yourself." Amora giggled.

It had a big green space in the middle at the front of the building and a few benches scattered around. There were a few students hanging around the outside which gave it more of a homey feel. It was situated all the way across the campus from the main building. No wonder he couldn't find it. 

"So 310 - 320 is on the first floor, 21 to 30 is on the second and so on. Ground floor is where the laundry room and the rec room is and there's a big TV in the living room but people usually only watch football on there so don't bother."

Loki looked up and didn't know what to think. It all seemed pretty exciting but the thought of sharing a living quarters for the next year with a stranger who he didn't know if he would like was kind of scary and he panicked a bit inside. He nodded at Amora and she led him inside, saying hello to a few people passing by.

"You need any help unpacking? I already unpacked my stuff yesterday so I have nothing else to do," Amora led him inside the elevator with his suitcase and pressed the third floor button.

"No I think I'll be fine."

"Alright, just call me if you do."

"Is it always this noisy?"

Amora shrugged. "Yeah people can get pretty crazy during the first weeks when they're trying to settle in."

Loki huffed. "Great."

"Don't worry, I'm kind of a big influence around here ever since last year so I can tell everyone to shut up if I want some peace and quiet," Amora smirked and leaned against the elevator wall.

"What occurred last year?" Loki turned towards her in interest.

"Let's just say there was a big party and someone flashed her chest to all the guys in the dorm," Amora blushed a little but she still smirked, looking proud.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Classy, very classy."

Amora half-smiled. "Yeah well you gotta use your assets right if you want to have an easier life here, don't you? Not that I'm trying to say women should be used like that. It's just the way I like to do things."

Loki just snorted as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. They both stepped out and Amora pointed to the left of the corridor. "Staircase is at the end of hall and the odd rooms are on the left and evens are on the right."

Loki turned his gaze away from the stairs and looked to the right to see a couple of people standing by the end of the corridor. He stiffened. Thor stood with Steve, Bruce and Clint outside of a dorm room gathered around the open front door as they chatted animatedly. Before Loki could attempt to hide or get back into the elevator, Thor spotted his brother and called out to him.

"Brother! Over here!" Thor waved his hands and all of them turned to see Loki standing there with Amora by his side, leaning against the wall surveying all of them with keen interest.

"Ah, so that's your brother?" She asked Loki. "He's a quite eager guy, isn't he?"  


Loki sighed. "Yes, unfortunately. He's not very discreet, he doesn't know the meaning of peace and quiet."

Amora nudged him to go on and she continued walking towards the end of the hall, Loki following begrudgingly behind. As they approached, Steve, Bruce and Clint all greeted Loki and the younger man nodded at them in acknowledgement. Thor smiled at his brother.

"Who's this?" Thor pointed at Amora who only continued looking at them all.  


Loki sighed at his brother's manners, or lack thereof and gazed at Amora. She introduced herself and shook all their hands, liking that she was being surrounded by a couple of handsome men.

"Pleasure to meet you," Steve said politely, oblivious to the way Amora was looking him up and down. "I'm Steve. This is Bruce, Clint and that's Thor."

"Pleasure to meet you all," she turned to Thor, "I've heard so much about you... Thor is it? Loki's told me quite a few erm, interesting things."

Steve and Bruce raised their eyebrows while Clint only suppressed his laugh when Thor, who was only too happy to hear that Loki had been talking about him to a stranger, beamed and nodded at her.

"Glad to hear that my brother speaks so highly of me," Thor grinned.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Don't get used to it." He spared a glance at the open door, looking at the plaque on the front which said '348'.

"Brother, are you in this dorm building as well?" Thor asked, looking at his sheet in his hand.

"Yes unfortunately I am. It just so happens that all of you are loitering outside my new dorm room." Loki snapped.

As Loki said that, all of them except for Amora looked at Loki with wide eyes. He frowned and Amora just looked at all of them in turn, confused.

"What have I done now?" Loki asked, looking at all of them.

Steve coughed, clearing his throat while Bruce tried to grab the door handle and close it. Thor only looked down at his feet and Clint again, was trying to suppress a laugh that, Loki knew, would soon burst out of him anyway. Amora peeked a little inside of the half closed doorway and saw someone coming out of the bathroom inside.

"Oh look, your roommate's already here," Amora pointed to the door and Loki frowned.  


Steve, Bruce and Clint all backed away from the door upon hearing the toilet flush and Thor attempted to stop Loki from going in but thought better of it.

"What's going-?" Loki said but stopped dead in his tracks when he pushed the door open and there stood his roommate in the middle of the room, toothbrush in hand and a condom in the other.

"Ah, look who's back?"

Tony _fucking_ Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think so far!


	3. Hazy

~ Shades of Grey ~

**Hazy**

Loki's eyes turned from surprised to confused to angry.

"Stark? What the hell are you doing here?!" Loki screeched.

Tony shrugged, threw the condom on his chosen bed and then grinned at Loki.

"This is my room," Tony told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Loki clenched his fists together, trying not to be too affected by that stupid smile on Tony's face.

"No, this is my room. I think you're mistaken," Loki said and looked behind him to see Thor standing by the door watching them with scared eyes.

He knew how Loki could get when Tony was anywhere near his little brother and he was right to stay away while Loki was trying to deal with him. Tony handed him a piece of paper and continued brushing his teeth whilst looking at Loki's expression change when he read it.

_'Anthony Edward Stark  
Dorm building 4, Room 348'_

Loki looked up and Tony raised his eyebrows as if to say 'I told you so'. Loki made a frustrated noise and threw the paper back non too gently.

"I cannot be sharing a room with you of all people!" Loki hissed and Tony threw his hands up.

"Whoa, you think I want to be sharing a room with you? Steve would be a better roommate with all his fondue talk," Tony pointed at the door and Steve appeared, glaring at him.

"Oh Gods. What did I do to deserve this?" Loki groaned, flopping on the bed opposite of Tony's.

"Ha! Well, let's see-" Tony started but Loki interrupted him.

"Shut up, Stark."

"Whoa, what's with all the hostility?"

"How can I be sharing a room with you, of all people?" Loki groaned.

"Hey! I'm one in a billion!"

"If your head wasn't already so far up your ass I would probably shove it up there."

"Well, now that's just a nice thought isn't it? You touching my ass." Loki rolled his eyes when Tony winked.

"You should consider yourself lucky. I'm probably going to be the best roommate you've ever had," Tony grinned and didn't care the way Loki's eyes went narrow.

"Why in the hell-"

"Because I'm a blast! We can have fun too, you know. Partying and-"

"If you so much as bring your nasty habits into this room; drink, smoke, sex or whatever, I will kick you out so hard your ass will go numb and you won't be able to walk for a week," Loki warned him.

"Calm down, Eric Draven. You know, you've been threatening me with pointless shit like that since high school I don't even think you've followed through with any of them."

"One day, Stark. We'll see."

"Oh, please. Just get over it Loki. You and me are stuck here no matter what for the next year or so. I'm not so bad," Tony said, getting up to the bathroom and finish brushing.

"Oh I think we both know that that is far from the actual truth," Loki scoffed.

When he came back out, Loki was still on the bed and Thor, Bruce, Clint and Steve were gathered around the door again, waiting for him to finish grooming and another unfamiliar face caught his eye.

"Who's this?" Tony eyed Amora up and down, smirking as he walked towards her. Loki looked up and rolled his eyes as he realised who Tony was referring to.

Thor patted Amora on the shoulder and smiled at Tony. "This is Amora. She is a friend of Loki's."

Amora smiled at him and put her hand out to shake but Tony took it and bowed down to kiss it before sending her a wink. Amora giggled a little but did not fall for his attempts at charming her.

"You must be Tony Stark. I've heard so much about you...especially from the newspapers," she said and took her hand back from his grasp.

Tony shrugged. "Well, what can I say? I'm just that interesting."

Loki snorted and stood up, walking over to them. "Try not to get her pregnant, Stark. It's only the first day. Keep it in your trousers."

Amora giggled. Steve coughed, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the topic at hand and Bruce smiled at Steve while Clint laughed out loud.

"He's only kidding. Me and Loki have been buddies for years, haven't we, Loki?" Tony put his hand on Loki's shoulder only to have it shrugged off.

"Of course Stark here has always been a liar. We've never been friends nor will we ever be," Loki said. He turned to glare at Tony who looked shocked.

"Well, there goes my hopes and dreams," Tony quipped sarcastically and laughed to himself.

"It's been a pleasure meeting you all but I have to get back. My roommate might have arrived. I'll see you around Loki," Amora waved goodbye to all of them and then went off just a few doors down the hallway and disappeared into her room.

"So are you guys together or can I take her to go?" Tony asked.

Loki made noise in the back of his throat. "Women are not objects that you can just claim, Stark."

"Geez, I was just kidding. I know that!" Tony defended.

"Enough, Tony." Thor interrupted their bickering then turned to Loki. "Brother, would you like to come join us for some lunch?"

Loki pouted, glaring at Tony. "No, I have better things to do at the moment."

"Very well. Be safe, brother," Thor said, his sad expression not lost on Loki but the younger man ignored it. Thor turned from the door, followed by Bruce, Clint and Steve who all waved an awkward goodbye to Loki before disappearing. Tony was not far behind, fixing his white shirt before sending a wink Loki's way and closing the door behind him. Loki grimaced.

"Fuck."

oOo

A week after Loki moved into their dorm room, he still couldn't take in the fact that they had given him Tony Stark as a roommate. Tony Stark, of all people, had to be the one person out of the whole university that he had to live with. It was enough in high school that they saw each other 5 times a week, if Tony actually bothered to show up, and even then they couldn't go ten minutes without bickering. Now, they would have to see each other every single day.

All of Loki's hopes of being able to get away from Thor was ruined because one, Tony was friends with him and two, Tony fucking Stark was sharing a room with him. Gods forbid Loki will actually kill him if he gets even more annoying as a roommate than a classmate.

The week before class started, Loki woke up every morning to the sound of AC/DC blaring on the iPod player Tony had placed on the table between their beds. Loki would turn it off, start screaming at Tony and then lock himself in the bathroom for half an hour to try and escape from Tony's presence just for a little while. Tony would get annoyed and bang on the door while he switched his music back on and rock out to Guns 'N' Roses while waiting for Loki to come out.

"You seriously are the most annoying creature to ever walk the face of the Earth," Loki would say. Tony would just make some annoying remark about Loki being too stuck up or maybe even, if he was feeling bold which Tony always did, mock the way Loki talked and remind him that they didn't live in Shakespearean times anymore so he could stop with the formal speech.

In the end, it was always safe to assume that talking was the most destructive thing they could do. Loki would quickly change into his jeans and green sweater, grab his laptop and keys then make his way to the library, this time carefully remembering the way back to the building. Tony would follow half an hour later and go hang out downstairs with Thor and everyone else then, along with Clint (much to Natasha's annoyance) check out all the girls in the room and decide which ones were worth bedding and which ones weren't. Natasha always smacked their heads together for being arrogant asses and objectifying women in the way they always did - Tony would apologise and mutter under his breath while Clint would ask for her forgiveness but then they would both continue doing the same thing twenty minutes later without any sign of stopping. Natasha would roll her eyes, sit herself between Steve and Bruce because apparently they had more sensibility about women.

When the first week of classes started, Loki could finally breathe a sigh of much needed relief; he could lose himself in his studies, be able to talk about his passion for literature and the arts with people who actually shared the same interest in his class and not be teased about it every time he opened his mouth. The only time he had to see Tony was during the morning when they both woke up (or when Loki woke up and Tony was still dozing on his bed) and during the nights when Loki came back from the library he would flop onto his bed in his tracksuits and tee shirt with a copy of Great Expectations and then not look up from the pages until he would hear a key in the lock turning clumsily, the door opening with a silent creak and a drunken Tony fumbling to get through the door. He wouldn't even make it to his small closet to change out of his clothes before he would collapse on the bed. Loki had already gotten used to the stink of alcohol every night but he would never get used to Tony's drunken trash talk before he passed out about how Loki was an annoying pain in the ass.

After a week and a half of the same old routine from Tony, Loki decided to spend some time down at the living room where he wouldn't have to wait for Tony to come back drunk and start snoring on his bed. He brought a copy of The Great Gatsby with him but he doubted he would get much reading done with all the noise that was bound to be going around him. Still, it was better than hearing 'Loki, you are so horrible to me' every time Tony came through the door complaining about his roommate in a whiny voice. The library was already closed too so he had nowhere else to go.

He got changed into his tracksuits, a plain green shirt and grabbed his book before making his way out of the room and towards the elevator. He made his way down to the ground floor and into the big living room. It was surprisingly empty - the room was dimly lit by three lamps, the TV was playing silently in the background whilst a couple of students were scattered about the room either reading textbooks, passed out or talking to their friends. Loki spotted an empty sofa by the darkest part of the room with a lamp next to it. He walked over and turned the lamp on before setting himself down comfortably, legs tucked under him and the book open on his lap.

It wasn't long before Loki lost himself in the Golden Age of the Roaring 20's. He had already read the book loads of times in high school and it was one of his favourites that never failed to reel him in. An hour and a few minutes later, he heard a soft cough above him and a shadow setting over the light. He looked up.

A tall, slightly muscular guy stood over him with a soft smile on his face. He had bright blue eyes, dark olive skin and cheekbones that could rival that of Loki's. His dark brown hair was slicked up at the front and his sides looked very neat and trimmed to perfection.

Loki raised his eyebrows, captured by the stranger's allure and did not speak at once.  


"Hi, you're Loki right?" the young man asked, hands behind his back and watching Loki with a curious glint in his eye.

Loki snapped out of his trance and cleared his throat. "Erm, yes. Yes I am. And you are?"

The stranger held out his hand and introduced himself. "I'm Thanos."

Loki shook his hand and smiled a little. "Thanos?"

"I know, weird name right?" Thanos chuckled.

"Well, it's not like Loki's any better." Loki shrugged and they both laughed.

"Can I?" Thanos gestured to the seat beside Loki and sat down when he nodded. Loki felt a little spark run down his leg when Thanos' hand brushed across his knee ever so briefly.

_Get a hold of yourself, Loki. You aren't twelve anymore._

"So what can I do for you?" Loki asked, wanting to know why this very handsome guy was talking to him.

"Well, I just wanted to come over and introduce myself properly. We're in the same English Lit class," Thanos gestured to Loki's book.

"Oh, my apologies. I don't think I've seen you before," Loki said.

"That's probably because I usually sit at the back of the class. I don't really listen so I reserve the space at the front for people who do," he explained and Loki laughed.

"I appreciate that," Loki said. Thanos laughed as Loki shut his book and placed it aside, turning his body to face Thanos.

"I've wanted to come up and talk to you for a while now ever since I saw you on the first day with Amora but I didn't know if you wanted to talk to me," Thanos confessed and scratched the back of his neck nervously.

Loki smiled. "Why is that?"

"I don't know if I should say, you'll probably freak out," Thanos said but Loki pressed on.

"There's not a lot that can freak me out, especially not someone like you."

Thanos stopped and bit his lip with a small smile. "I've actually had a crush on you since I saw you. I don't know if that's weird or not but I don't want you to think I'm strange or anything."

Loki was taken by surprise; he thought that Thanos would just want to discuss simple matters such as literature or maybe even try to get to know him more and become friends but he hadn't anticipated it to get that far. He didn't know whether to feel flattered or be utterly shocked. He settled for both.

"A-a crush on me?"

Sure, Loki had his fair share of suitors - both guys and girls, for that matter - but none quite so beautiful as the one sitting before him. It was quite an awkward situation though, he did not know how to react and he'd only known the guy for under five minutes. He had never known anyone to be so straightforward and honest upon meeting.

"I'm sorry that must sound so creepy. I've only known you for like five minutes but I just wanted to ask..."

Loki raised his eyebrows in anticipation. Thanos wrung his hands together.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to get some coffee with me tomorrow morning? You know, like as a..."

"A date?" Loki smiled.

"Yeah...yeah like a date, a morning date," Thanos said, his voice wavering a little. "I've never actually done this sort of thing before but I just had to come over and ask you."

Loki couldn't help but blush at how Thanos was losing his nerves because of him. He found it extremely cute, and commended him for his courage and put his hand on top of his.

"Of course. I mean, I don't usually agree to dates with strangers I've only just met but I think I can make an exception," Loki said and found it adorable the way Thanos' eyes lit up with excitement.

"Really? Oh yes, um , I mean I'll pick you up at ten if you want. I'll just knock on your door and-"

Loki's smile faltered a little. "Actually, my roommate is kind of a late sleeper and he gets very cranky when he is woken up before midday on a weekend."

"You mean Tony Stark?"

Loki frowned. "How do you know he is my roommate?"

Thanos just shrugged. "I've never actually met or seen him properly but he's kind of a popular face around here and I hear girls like to stalk him back to his room so it's only natural everyone knows who you are. Word gets around."

"Wow, that is... creepy. I'd rather not get caught up in Stark's mishaps with women he likes to bed."

Thanos laughed. "Do you two not get along?"

"I think that could be an understatement."

"Why is that?"

Loki's jaws clenched and his mind ran with thoughts of all the reasons why Tony Stark and him were not friends.

"Well, I think there are too many answers to that question that I'd rather not list this late in the night. Him and I were in high school together and let's just say our personalities were not very compatible then nor are they now."

Thanos laughed a little. "And you got him as a roommate? That's kind of... cruel, almost. Being forced to share a room with someone you dislike."

Loki shrugged. "Yes well, life has its ups and downs I guess except mine only goes down and gravity is called Tony Stark."

Thanos laughed loudly and his hand touched Loki's arm for a moment. His mind blanked of all Tony related thoughts and was replaced with a soft dizziness that filled him with a little warmth, like a love struck teenager touching their crush for the first time, and felt a sudden urge to be closer to Thanos and inched slightly towards him.

Before Thanos could do the same, another soft cough sounded above Loki and both of them looked up.

"Amora, what are you doing here?"

Amora stood with her arms crossed, looking at Loki with a fake smile, glancing at Thanos warily beneath it.

"Loki, I need some help with something. Can you come with me?"

Loki cleared his throat and moved away from Thanos, picking up his book and standing up. Thanos followed his lead.

"Erm, alright. Help with what?"

Amora shook her head and grabbed his arm. "Something important. Let's go."

Thanos grabbed Loki's other arm and he turned around when Amora stopped walking to let Thanos say what he needed to say. "10am, by the library. Tomorrow."

Loki nodded and before he could bid him goodnight, Amora grabbed his arm pulled him away from the room and into the elevator.

"What was that for? Why are you acting so strange?" Loki wrenched his arm out of her grasp as the elevator jerked and moved slowly up.

Amora crossed her arms again and had a disapproving look on his face. "Why were you talking to Thanos?"

"You do not really need any assistance with anything, do you?" Loki frowned when Amora shook her head.

He huffed and looked at her disapprovingly. "How do you know of him?"

"He used to date my friend in high school."

"So? We were just having a nice conversation before you interrupted us so very rudely," Loki pouted and Amora rolled her eyes.

"Don't be such a baby. I just don't like the way he looks. He seems...dodgy," Amora explained, complete with hand gestures that Loki did not understand.

"Dodgy? He seemed like a perfectly decent guy," Loki said and crossed his arms too.

"Pfft, decent gentleman my ass. My friend told me all about him and he's not right in the head. I think you should stay away from him. I saw how you two were getting close on that sofa," Amora mocked.

Loki glared. "Do not tell me who I can and cannot see. Thanos was a perfectly kind gentleman who was sane. He has invited me to have drinks with him tomorrow."

Amora groaned. "Loki, you really should stay away from him. He's trouble."

"I think I can take care of myself, Amora. Your friend was probably just mistaken."

They both waked out of the elevator and Amora shook her head as they made their way to their rooms.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you about him. He may seem like he's all charming and handsome but people are different on the inside, Loki," Amora warned just as she was opening her door.

"Don't treat me like a child, Amora. I know perfectly well about deceiving appearances and hidden personalities. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a drunken roommate waiting for me," Loki grimaced.

Amora rolled her eyes and disappeared inside her room. Loki put the keys into his lock and opened the door, peering in to see if anyone was inside. He found Tony lying on his bed, slightly red eyes wide open and staring up at the ceiling.

"Stark, what the hell are you doing?" Loki asked as he closed the door. Tony looked his way and smiled goofily, drunk.

"Loki, t-t-here you ahh," Tony slurred, trying to get up but couldn't seem to succeed.

"Drunk again I see," Loki commented, making his way to his bed and kicking off his shoes and socks. "Why am I not surprised?"

Tony hiccuped and smirked lazily. "You kno', one o' these days I-I-I will kick yo' azz for bein' such...such a fuck-fucking dick."

Loki just smirked back. "I doubt you will be able to. Drunk people usually have slow reflexes and you probably won't be able to be sober long enough for you to touch me."

That insult would've hurt a lot more if Tony had been sober and his mouth was quicker to reply. But all he did was get up from the bed, successfully this time, and then slowly make his way towards Loki nearly falling over once or twice. Loki sat on his bed facing him, waiting on an attempted insult.

After a few drunken steps, Tony stood over Loki and poked the younger man on the shoulder and smiled. "You're so faaaa-hat, did you know that?"

Loki rolled his eyes and grabbed Tony's finger that was poking him. "You really are brain dead when you are drunk. You're much better with your insults when you are sober."

Tony's face turned into smacked baby. "You kiss Thor with that mouth? You, my tall friend, are reeeeeeally mean."

"Please get back to your bed, I tire of your pathetic disrespect," Loki said, rolling his eyes tiredly.

Without a reply, Tony closed his eyes slowly, swaying on his spot in front of Loki and trying to keep his balance when a sudden croak came out of his slowly widening mouth.

Loki's eyes widened. "Oh Gods, don't you dare vomit on me, Stark!"

Loki tried to push him away but before he could do so, the playboy lost consciousness and fell forward on top of Loki. Loki fell back onto his bed, head hitting the pillow thankfully and he stiffened for a moment.

"Stark?" Loki nudged Tony's side but a snoring sound came a second later and he knew Tony was asleep.

"Fuck. Stark, get the hell off me now. Oh Gods, you are heavy."

Loki tried to push Tony off from on top of him but Tony didn't move. He carefully untangled his arms from Tony's own and placed them on his shoulders to shake him awake. After a few moments of failed attempts, Tony was still asleep and Loki was still trapped. He could smell the scent of alcohol from Tony's mouth being so close to his face and he grimaced with disgust. Once he accepted that Tony wouldn't become conscious for another few hours (or maybe twenty four), he clutched Tony's shoulder and pushed him up a little bit so that he could lift himself off his bed and drag Tony to his. If only he wasn't so considerate (considering this was Tony Stark), he would've pushed the sleeping man on the floor and left him there. Stark should be so lucky that even though Loki despised him, he was still looking after him in his drunken state.

Once he got up off the bed, Tony was snoring peacefully on his chest and Loki pushed them both up, wrapping his arms around Tony's waist so that he could easily maneouvre Tony across the small room. He walked as quickly (as quickly as having a heavy unconscious man weighing you down allowed) but as carefully as he could across the room. Loki quickly let go of him and just as he was about to shove him away, Tony unconsciously caught onto his waist, clinging onto it freely and then Loki was spun around before he knew what was happening and his back landed on the mattress with a still very drunk Tony lying on top of him, not letting him go from his strong hold.

"Mom..."

Loki stared at Tony's shaking head whose nose was trying to nuzzle into Loki's neck and his eyebrows furrowed.

_So, Stark misses his mother?_

He took a moment to gather his thoughts and tried to push Tony off again but their bodies were so much closer than before that Loki couldn't squeeze his long hands in between them to shove Tony away. He felt so much heavier now that Loki was tired out from dragging him across the room. If only someone was here to drag Tony off him, he would run straight to his bed before any other drunken assholes could pass out on top of him.

"I swear to Gods, I will ruthlessly beat you blue eyed tomorrow for this, Stark."

His words were met with the soft sound of Tony's muffled breathing against the crook of Loki's neck and shoulder. His breath tickled Loki's skin but Loki was much too preoccupied with Tony's hands on his body, clutching it against him and never letting his hold weaken even in his sleep. Loki couldn't move and couldn't believe that he hadn't just pushed Tony onto the floor when he had the chance. If he did, he'd probably be in his own bed sleeping by now.

With every breath Tony took, Loki's body began to relax into the comfortable mattress underneath him and sleep was taking hold of his body but he refused to fall asleep like this. He decided to wait until Tony was fully knocked out and was no longer clutching onto him like a lost child before slipping out carefully from underneath and leaving Tony to his bed and go back to his own.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think?  
> I've posted this story on ff.net before but I did not continue it. I thought I would continue it here and see what you guys think and based on your feedback, I can continue writing and hopefully keep you guys interested!


	4. It's Up To You Now

~Shades of Grey~

**It's Up To You Now**

As the sunlight filtered through the half open blinds of the closed window, two figures stirred on a bed as the light reached slowly around the room.

Loki's face twitched as the light hit his face and he groaned softly at the disturbance. It was morning again but no one seemed to bother coming out of their dorms seeing as it was the weekend again. He could hear the annoying sounds of birds twittering outside and telling everyone that it was time to get up and face the day. His head felt a little dizzy from the exposure to the brightness but it was nothing compared to his chest that felt quite bruised and sore. He couldn't even feel his arms and the upper part of his body felt numb. Maybe it was just the sickness of his stomach or the tiresome feeling gripping his body that always seemed to come during the mornings. He was about to lift his hand to shield his face away from the window but realised he couldn't. His hand was trapped somewhere between his body and the thing that was pressing down none-too-gently on him.

He opened his eyes but quickly shut them when all he could see was the blinding sunlight trying to invade his sight. He couldn't move and couldn't see. He tried to wiggle his body to shake himself out of his morning grogginess but he could barely move because there was definitely something on top of him. Something was trapping him down onto the bed, rendering him motionless and unable to move away from the uncomfortable position.

He turned his face away and looked to his right to avoid looking at the bright light and he opened his eyes carefully. His eyes blurred for a second before they focused and went back to normal. He was seeing a small closet at the foot of the bed. He realised he was in his dorm laying on a bed - his bed?- but his surroundings seemed unfamiliar yet somehow familiar. He realised it wasn't his things that he saw. It was Tony's; the posters of Angus Young on stage with a guitar on the wall, the small iPod dock by the floor and the closet which was half open and showcasing all the AC/DC, Metallica and Sex Pistols t shirts that hung carelessly on their hangers.

Loki frowned, trying to figure out slowly why Tony's things were on his side of the room. He was about to turn to look at Tony's bed (as he always did every morning to see if he had woken up yet) but could see nothing over the shoulders of the person that was lying atop him, sleeping peacefully and back rising every few seconds with a near-silent and soft snoring sound.

Wait, who in the Gods' name is this?

Loki shot up from his position but the heavy weight prevented him from doing so completely. He got about halfway up before collapsing back onto the mattress that received a groggy moan from the person above him. Loki recognised the tussled, half slicked up brown hair resting between his shoulder and chest and his eyes widened even more so.

"Stark?!"

A sleeping Stark that was disturbed was never a happy Stark, Loki knew that except he didn't care because Tony was lying on top of him right at that moment and Loki didn't know why. At the sound of Loki's screech, Tony's head stirred a little into his neck before he raised it up, eyes half closed, to look at Loki's red face whose hips he still had his hands around, unconsciously embracing it. Tony looked down at Loki, his face scrunched into a frown and his mouth in a childish pout.

"Could you be quiet, dear? Daddy's nursing a hangover."

Loki's expression turned from shock to anger in a second as he tried to shove Tony away but his hands and arms were feeling weak and the morning was weighing heavily on both of them that Loki lacked the energy and Tony lacked the effort to move and let him go.

"Stark, what the hell are you- Get off of me right this instant!"

Tony groaned louder this time and slowly removed his hands from underneath Loki. He raised it to nurse his head and will away the pounding headache he got which was made worse with the sound of Loki shouting in his ear this early in the morning.

"Loki, shut the hell up for a minute, will ya?"

"No I will not be quiet! You were sleeping on top of me and I am on your bed!"

"Maybe we slept together, what's the big deal?" Even when half-conscious, Tony never failed to ground Loki's teeth together in annoyance.

"Stark," Loki warned, his hands on Tony's shoulders trying to push him away. "You will get your lazy ass off of me now or I will knock your teeth out of your foul mouth!"

Tony groaned like a child being told to go to his room and Loki breathed heavily, his chest being suffocated by Tony.

"Does the word 'hangover' mean anything to you? Stop shouting at me, my head will fucking explode!"

"Oh, your head will definitely explode if you don't get off me this second!"

Tony huffed and then rolled off of Loki, his back hitting the mattress and lying next to him. He covered his face from the light and groaned when Loki moved off the bed too fast and gave Tony a little dizzy spin. Loki stood in the middle of the room, angry and confused at the same time trying to figure out what happened.

"I swear to Gods if you did anything to me last night that I did not give you consent to-"

Tony scoffed. "As much as I would have loved to sleep with you Loki," he mocked, "I'm not into you like that. I don't swing that way, dude."

"That does not explain why you had me pinned to your bed!"

Tony massaged his temples now, trying to tell his head to calm down and ignore Loki who was screaming and making it worse.

"I really do appreciate the fact that you think I raped you last night but I don't remember anything," Tony's mocking tone made Loki blush a little at his own insane suggestion of Tony actually being capable of such things, even when drunk. Still, he was pissed as hell at waking up in such a manner.

Then it clicked into place. He suddenly remembered coming back from his room after his little chat with Amora and Tony was already inside when he came in. Tony was too full of alcohol when it happened (of course he was) and so Loki became the victim of his inconsiderate drunken actions. He remembered when Tony fell unconscious on top of him; he remembered trying to drag him back to his bed and then Tony falling on top of him again. His mind worked to recap all the little pieces of memories before he turned on Tony with angry eyes once more. The small moment he took to himself and the look of realisation on his face was not lost on Tony as he peered from between his fingers to stare up at his angry roommate.

"Ah, you remember? Good because I was drunk as hell last night."

Loki narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I remember," he spat. "I remember you falling on top of me in your drunken state, you irresponsible jerk! I cannot actually believe they shoved me into a room with you! You are never to repeat your actions again or I will cut your manhood off and feed it to the dogs!"

"Manhood? What is this, the 19th Century?" Tony said, trying not to raise his voice.

"What?" Loki asked, his patience running thin.

"Loki, just call it what it is. A dick. A co-"

"You are so despicable."

"You know it, baby."

"Shut up, Stark."

Tony fell silent with a smirk. He chuckled silently to himself after a few seconds. "I don't know why having another guy sleep on top of you is such a big deal. I remember you dating that jerk what's-his-name in high school. You guys were pretty close…literally. You didn't seem to have a problem with it."

"You know nothing, Stark," Loki spat, "And it's not men in general I have a problem with, it's you specifically."

"Are you always this touchy in the morning or only when we sleep together?" Tony winked, not impressing Loki one bit.

"We did not sleep together," Loki ground out.

"Oh, I beg to differ," Tony protested calmly, not letting his gaze waver from Loki's glare.

"Well, maybe if someone wasn't such an alcoholic calling out for his mother in the middle of the night, this wouldn't have happened," Loki bit out, not noticing Tony tensing up at his words.

"Don't be so naïve, Loki. I'm not the one with sibling issues," Tony bit back.

Fortunately for Tony, Loki didn't know jack about his parental relationships but surely everyone knew about the Odinson brother's problems – well, Loki's problems. Thor just seemed to be stuck.

Loki growled but he quickly refused to let anyone look down on him because of his personal troubles with his family, especially Tony.

"My private business does not concern you, Stark. Maybe if you focused a little more on your own issues instead of other's, people would actually want to be friends with you for your personality, not your undeserved wealth," Loki whispered dangerously, looking down at Tony who seemed slightly taken aback when Loki stood right in front of him, almost pushing him backwards.

"Whoa, that one actually hurt," Tony said.

Loki smirked. "Don't be such an idiot, Stark. You know it's true."

"Well Loki, at least I have friends."

Loki's face faltered a little but kept the small smirk in place. "I doubt they'll still be your friends when they finally get it into their thick heads how much of an asshole you are."

"Ha! Well, maybe I am an asshole but at least I'm not stuck up."

"Fuck off."

"You started it!"

Tony always seemed to have a talent for making serious, tension-filled moments into childish annoying ones that almost always ended up with Tony being the one who did the annoying.

"You are such an immature little nuisance," Loki rolled his eyes and huffed before walking away and sitting on his bed in a frustrated manner.

"Thanks, honey bunny."

Tony slowly got up and walked past him to go to the bathroom holding his head. Loki just growled in response as he walked by and once Tony closed the door, Loki collapsed on his bed and sighed heavily.

"I hate mornings."

He briefly glanced at the clock on his table and groaned when he saw the time; 10:15. He usually didn't wake until 11:00 on weekends because he was always tired from classes that he would stay in later than usual on a Saturday and Sunday. Of course, today was an unusual exception, not only for Loki but Tony too who always slept till after midday on weekends.

Just then, Loki remembered there was somewhere he had to go at this time. It took him a few moments of wondering before he realised that Thanos would be waiting for him by the library right about now. He shot up off the bed quicker than he should have and took a few moments to still his dizzy head before changing out of last night's pajamas (which was strange because he usually slept in his underwear but it was probably because of what happened with Tony, he thought), clumsily put on his jeans and replaced his green shirt with a dark black and green jumper. He grabbed what he needed for his day out with Thanos and then rushed through the door, leaving with an annoyed roll of his eyes as he heard  
Tony singing in the shower and then shut the door and ran to the elevator.

As soon as he got out of the building, he quickly rushed to the library building and saw Thanos on a bench, sitting with a frown on his face looking around him. Loki stopped to catch his breath when he neared and then called out his name.

Thanos turned and like a child on Christmas Day, his face lit up as he saw Loki walking towards him, hair in a mess and his usually pale face all flushed. He got up and met Loki halfway, grinning in excitement.

"I thought you were standing me up." Thanos said, noticing Loki's red face. "Did you run?"

Loki nodded as he tried to breathe a little more steadily. "I apologise. I ran into an...unusual situation this morning but nothing I could not handle."

"Are you alright? You look a little...flushed."

"Yes. I had just realised I was late to meet you so I ran."

Thanos laughed. "I appreciate that. I don't mind waiting for you."

Loki blushed for the second time that morning but he smiled anyway. "I apologise once more. I did not mean to be late. But I promise I will make it up to you later."

"It's truly fine. Shall we go?"

He nodded. As Thanos led the way with Loki beside him, his hand slipped to hover behind the small of Loki's back, making indirect contact with his skin ever so slightly through the green jumper.

Loki smiled to himself.

oOo

As the hard pressure of the warm water soaked through Tony's hair and quickly wet his smooth olive skin, he winced to himself as his head pounded boldly with the heat of the water. He waited for the pain to disappear before he sighed in pleasure when it slowly died down.

It was a small pain reliever Clint had taught him in high school. Warm showers in the morning always seemed to do the trick of washing away hangover symptoms. Since Tony was always coming to school with one (or using it as an excuse not to attend, more like) Clint had told Tony the simple solution to a pounding headache.

Somewhere during that little mind lapse, Tony heard the muffled but distinct sound of a door slamming shut. Loki was gone. Despite Tony's teasing earlier, he really was curious to know how he and Loki had ended up in such a suspicious position and on his bed, too.

Maybe if he had been with a girl it wouldn't have been anything unusual, sleazy maybe but definitely something Tony would do. But it wasn't a girl – hell it wasn't a guy either but having any other male in Tony's bed would have been fucking better than sleeping on top of Loki Odinson. Thor or Steve would have been a better choice considering Steve's nervousness around anything he considered 'fondue'.

He chuckled slightly underneath the water as he recalled Loki's obvious concern of the situation. If he wasn't immediately taking care of his hangover, he would have definitely made the younger man even more uncomfortable just for fun.

Ha. Loki was right; he was an asshole.

But what did that matter? He was Tony fucking Stark, heir to a multi-billion dollar company, a bloody genius - maybe even more of a genius than Einstein - not to mention he was one of the most beautiful people on the planet. So sure, Loki could call him an asshole all he liked but it didn't change the fact that Tony was absolutely awesome.

Okay, maybe he was a little arrogant too but who wouldn't be proud of themselves if they were Tony Stark. Apparently not Loki.

He turned the shower off and grabbed a hanging towel as he stepped out of the cubicle and dried his hair off quickly. He dropped it on the floor (he knew Loki was going to have a fit when he came back but he was too lazy to hang it up again) and walked into the bedroom stark (ahem) naked, unashamed and enjoying the freedom of his skin.

He opened his drawer and closet, popped on some underwear and his jeans and band shirt. He grabbed his phone from the bedside table and glanced at his bed for a moment. He smiled internally and then turned away and walked out the door.

He made his way to the stairs and ran down. He entered the student lounge where Clint was sitting on the couch watching the sports channel on the TV. Next to him, Natasha was sitting with her legs crossed; chin leaning on one hand, bored and not really paying attention. Bruce was nowhere to be found but Thor was in the corner on the foosball table, screaming at Steve who was making no effort to humour Thor on his quest of proving that he could be great at anything, despite clumsily hitting his thighs on the handles every time he moved up and down to follow the ball through the table.

Tony laughed to himself, shaking his head and then entered the room with his significance presence filling the air like smoke. Clint turned to the door and nodded at Tony who high fived him like excited teenagers.

Natasha rolled her eyes as Thor and Steve's attention was taken away from the foosball table onto Tony who strutted in.

"Ah, Tony! How are you this fine morn'?"

"Well, Goldilocks, hangover's still hanging."

"Who is this Goldilocks you always refer to when I am present?"

Clint snickered beside Tony and loved that look that always crossed Thor's face whenever Tony made simple references. It happened with Steve too and Tony always loved to take advantage of that fact.

"Nobody you know," Tony finished with a wave of his hand and sat down next to Clint and tried to grab the remote to change the sports channel. Clint just nudged him away and they started to bicker like children. Steve just rolled his eyes. Thor excused himself from the game and made his way over and decided to stand in the view of the television right in front of Tony who whined when the blond pulled him and Clint apart.

"Stark, how fares my brother? I have not seen him as of late," the blond questioned, his muscly arms crossed over his chest and a stern look on his face.

Tony smirked at the mention of his raven haired roommate and he chuckled to himself. The action was not lost on Thor and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his friend.

"What is so amusing?" Thor asked.

Clint was now trying to push him out of the way but he wouldn't budge. Steve resorted to just listening in on the conversation and trying to ignore Clint's pleas.

"Nothing's amusing, Point Break. Can't a guy laugh once in a while?" Tony put his hands up innocently and received a glare from Thor who was not amused.

"Hasn't it occurred to you yet that Draven's trying to avoid you purposely?" Tony continued, confusing Thor.

"Who is this Draven you compare Loki to? And I had a hunch that he was trying to evade my company and I only fear that I am right."

"Great. Now d'you mind moving a little over to the left so I can see?" Tony motioned for him to move but Thor only pouted for a moment and then slapped him on the knees and invited him over for a game of foosball. Tony put up a protest, preferring to watch with Clint where it was comfortable but Thor gave him a look. He sighed to himself and got up, following him over to the corner of the room but refusing to play with him.

"So, what's up Blondie?"

Thor ignored Tony's nickname and got straight to the point, making sudden eye contact with him. He got a little bit creeped out but didn't look away, simply staring back with a raised brow.

"Stop looking at me like that, it's creeping me out."

Thor ignored him again. "I overheard some screaming coming from your chambers this morning. Not too long before you arrived just now, in fact."

"Hey, it's not my fault! Plus, I'm not the only one who lives there, y'know!"

"What has happened between you and Loki?"

"You know, I don't actually remember," Tony tried to think back to how Loki had explained the situation but could only remember a few things. "Something about me being drunk and then somehow, your brother got underneath me on my bed and we slept together."

Thor's eyes bulged out of his eyes. He had always heard the term 'sleeping together' when Tony used to talk about his 'misadventures' with girls he had bedded. Several people, including Tony himself, had already explained to him the concept and about how it did not mean that people literally 'slept together', but it was more an intimate act of 'coming together' as Tony had put it. Thor, of course, had missed the small pun but finally understood. Of course now that Loki had been thrust into the picture, he became more fussed.

"You bedded my brother?" Thor half-shouted in Tony's face, gripping the table roughly.

Tony stepped back a little and sent him a weird look. "I wouldn't exactly call it that. Maybe it's more of a 'drunken mistake' type situation," he explained, doing nothing to ease Thor's wandering mind.

"What?" Thor's voice cracked and he leaned forward suddenly, his eyes widening even more.

"Whoa, relax Point Break."

"I have heard one too many stories about your 'drunken mistakes', Tony. My brother will not be turned into one," he said intimidatingly and pointed a finger at him.

Tony put his hands up in an innocent gesture and backed away again. "Hey, I didn't do anything to him. I was just drunk, alright? Apparently, I just fell asleep on top of him and we woke up together… _fully clothed_ ," he emphasised his last words so Thor would remove his finger from his face.

"Nothing else happened?"

"No! Stop thinking that it did. That 'noise' you heard this morning was Shakespeare himself going off on me about being a pervert," Tony rolled his eyes. Loki had, angrily and embarrassingly, accused Tony of raping him and just because he had made it into a joke to annoy Loki did not mean that he wasn't offended.

Thor narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before pulling back and straightening up. Sometimes, it scared the blond how nonchalant Tony could be in situations that normal people would find distressing. "I do not trust you with him."

"Way to state the obvious, Goldie. Whose fault was it that he ended up with me in the first place, huh?" Tony crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow at the blond.

"You were the only one who I could come to with my problem," Thor said.

"It's not like Clint, Steve, and Bruce weren't available!"

Tony pouted like a candy less child but Thor just rolled his eyes in response and leaned forward once more.

"Do not forget that you did this for my forgiveness, Tony. How else can I fulfil my father's wishes of looking after Loki if he is always avoiding me? You are my only chance," Thor half-whispered, hoping his dramatics would persuade Tony to cooperate.

Tony snorted. "Okay, now you're just talking like I'm about to save the world or something."

"Tony…" Thor scolded.

Tony stared at Thor with annoyance, Thor staring back at him pleadingly. A moment later, he threw up his hands with a frustrated scoff.

"Okay, look. Just because I'm doing this as a sort of an apology gesture to you, it doesn't mean I have to like living with your brother," Tony replied.

Thor chuckled. "I am sure he feels the same way."

"Oh, you have no idea," Tony huffed with a smile.

oOo

Amora made her way downstairs to the student lounge where she promised to meet Natasha. She was still annoyed about her little discussion with Loki last night but Natasha assured her that Loki could be a little hard headed sometimes which was what made him and the red head get along so well.

She looked in through the glass window of the room and spotted Natasha sitting on the sofa looking bored as hell with Clint beside her and the cute guy she remembered named Steve sitting on the floor in front of them. Her eyes gazed over to the corner of the room where Thor was having a little chat with the famous Tony Stark, who she remembered had hit on her again at one of the mixer parties when he had been drunk, no surprise. It wasn't too difficult to reject someone who had no sense in his mind. The next moment he had whined, pouted like a five year old and moved right on to the next girl who had been pulling on his arm all night.

She was quite sure that he didn't even remember her name but it wouldn't be the last time he would try to make a move.

She entered through the door and noticed Tony's attention snapping from Thor over to her and she smirked inwardly and greeted Natasha.

"Hey, roomie," she smiled and sat on the end of the couch.

Natasha nodded at her and noticed Thor and Tony walking over to them. The blond whispered something to Tony and then smiled gently at Amora.

"Good morning, Amora. What brings you here this fine morning?"

Behind him, Tony rolled his eyes and Natasha almost laughed. It was always fun to hear Thor and Loki speaking in the way that only the two brothers did and how over dramatized they sounded compared to everyone. Maybe that was why Loki always sounded like such a drama king every time he got upset or angry. It added to the sting of his insults too. No one liked to be insulted in Shakespearean.

Amora lips curved in response, her head tilting to the side as she stared up at the tall man before her.

"Well, I actually just came here to hang out with Natasha. You know, spend a little time bonding with my roommate."

Tony snorted. "You're roommates with Nat? Good luck with that," He fake-whispered the last part to her and Natasha sent him a glare. He put up his hands in defence and the red head rolled her eyes.

Thor gave him a stern look and he shrugged in response, already used to Thor telling him off. It wasn't like he didn't get enough of it from his dark-haired, green-eyed roommate.

"You know, I was actually saying the same thing to Loki," Amora retorted.

Natasha smiled just slightly and Clint barked out in laughter. Steve chuckled along with him and Thor patted Tony on the back, shrugging as if to say 'Well, you had that coming.' No surprise that her and Natasha were getting along quite well.

Before Tony could speak again, Thor got there first and turned a stern look towards Amora.

"Speaking of my brother, where is Loki this morning?"

Amora tried not to grimace in front of him and so simply scoffed with a shrug.

"Is he not in his room?" she directed the question at Tony.

"No, he left after he screamed at me for trying to sleep with him," Tony said nonchalantly and everyone exchanged confused glances before shrugging it off as Tony being his usual disgusting self. Thor just rolled his eyes and asked Amora again for Loki's whereabouts.

"Well, if he's not in his room and if what he told me last night was correct, he's probably out with Thanos."

"Who?" Everyone asked in unison.

She looked at all of them and raised her eyebrows. "You don't know him?"

Thor shook his head quickly with a worried expression on his face,"Who is this Thanos you speak of? What affairs does he hold with my brother? Is he a delinquent? Is he harmful?"

Amora looked at him with an eyebrow raised and made a mental note to tell Loki later how right he was about Thor's protectiveness. He sounded so panicked just hearing his little brother going out with some unknown guy who they knew nothing about. Loki found it annoying, although she found it quite adorable. She understood all too well about older sibling instincts although, if they had heard the things that she did about him, Thor would probably be having a fit. He would probably warn Loki about who he was hanging out with and persuade him against it. Not that Loki would listen to his older 'not brother'. From what she'd seen so far, Loki wasn't very keen on talking to Thor even just a little bit or even acknowledging him. And it seemed like Thor still tried to get in to his little brother's walls – _tried_ being the important word.

"Calm down, tall cake. They're not having a gangster meeting," she replied sarcastically and smirked, "He told me they're just going out for drinks or some shit like that."

Tony's eyebrow raised and he crossed his arms across his chest. "They're on a _date_?"

Everyone looked at him and Thor swallowed slowly, his eyes widening slightly.

"Well, if you want to put a label on it…" Amora shrugged again.

Thor's head whipped around to look at her with a worried expression on his face. "How come I have not heard of this before?"

Amora wanted to make a snide comment on how Loki had been relentlessly avoiding him but she wouldn't go that far. It wasn't her place and it would probably make things awkward before she got to know Thor a little better outside of what Loki had been telling her. She decided to stick with the truth, even if it would make Thor a little suspicious.

"Well, considering they only met each other last night, I'm pretty sure no one else knows."

Everyone's eyebrows rose in unison and Amora half-laughed, half scoffed.

"Does Loki know anything about this…this stranger?" Thor questioned, getting more on edge.

He really did sound like an over protective father trying to investigate into his kid's relationship. Amora thought carefully about her answer in case Thor got even more worked up.

"Isn't that the point of dates? Getting to know each other?"

Thor dismissed her reply and instead turned to Tony and smacked him in the arm. The genius clutched his pained limb and then cussed at Thor.

"You had one job, Anthony!"

Tony harrumphed, "Don't pin this on me! I didn't even know about any of this. And even if I did, I wouldn't be able to do anything about it even if I wanted to. I control Loki as much as I control the weather!"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement but Amora just shook her head and turned her attention back to Thor.

"I think we can all agree that Loki's a stubborn ass but-"

Thor glared. "Have care how you speak. Loki is my beloved brother and I will not have you insult him in my presence."

Amora put up her hands in defence and shrugged. "I'm just saying. I tried to talk him out of it last night after I caught them nearly canoodling on the couch over there but he wouldn't listen. Even after I warned him about that creep Thanos, he still wouldn't listen."

Thor frowned. "What do you mean warned him?"

"I don't really want to get into that discussion this early in the morning, Goldie but let's just say it's better if Loki stayed away from him. Not that he'll listen, though."

"Damn straight," Tony muttered under his breath.

Thor sighed tiredly. "Tony, you have to tell me what he is doing. If I cannot see what he is doing myself, I can trust you to watch over him and relay to me."

Tony's huffed. "You mean spy on your brother and tell him everything he's doing?"

"Is not that the purpose of me asking you to room together? Did you not listen to anything we discussed a mere few minutes ago?"

Amora and Natasha's eyebrows rose while Clint and Steve exchanged frowns.

"Wait," Clint said, standing up and facing Thor and Tony, "Are you saying you got Tony to make some kind of…arrangement so that Loki and him would be sharing the same room? Just so you can spy on him?"

Thor just stared at him, realising he had said it out loud and sunk back into himself in shame. Tony shook his head at Thor for saying it out loud before deciding to just tell them.

"Blondie here got me to call the school to arrange it. All I had to do was tell them my name and it was sorted," Tony explained and Thor hid his face away in embarrassment.

Natasha shook her head, speaking for the first time that day. "That is just low, Thor."

"Yeah, considering how Loki and Tony don't get along," Steve said.

"It's not my fault he's the only one immune to my charms," Tony murmured but Thor ignored him.

"I knew that Loki would not appreciate sharing quarters with me and I did not want to ruin my progress of getting back into his good graces if we were to be living together. So I asked Tony to do it for me," Thor explained, defending his actions.

Steve looked at the two of them, even more confused and many unanswered questions rolling through his mind. "Why the hell would you agree to that, Tony?"

Tony turned nervous this time and he scratched the back of his neck in hesitation. Thor looked at him disapprovingly.

"Anthony agreed to do me this significant favour if only I gave him my forgiveness."

"Forgiveness for what? Stark's done a lot of pretty stupid things he needs forgiveness for," Clint butted in and smirked when Tony sent him a dark look.

"It was ages ago, we don't need to bring it up again," Tony waved his hand and tried to dismiss the subject but Thor wouldn't have it.

"Actually, Tony it was not that far back. It happened only last year at the senior Christmas dance. I would not talk to him for a week. It was only after then when I had thought of what he could do to earn my forgiveness when we became friends again."

Clint thought back for a moment and he jumped up, suddenly remembering something. "Oh! Is that when Tony was caught nailing Phyllis Simmons behind the gym bleachers during the dance?"

Amora laughed out loud. A look of disgust crossed Natasha's face and Steve just rolled his eyes, knowing too well of Tony's misadventures with girls behind the gym bleachers. He remembered catching Tony twice in the same week with two separate girls behind the bleachers and his mind reeled back to the memory and the image of Tony's naked ass crossed his mind and he shivered.

Thor nodded and Tony's head sunk into his shoulders, trying to hide from the embarrassment of the memories. Not that he was different now, he still did the same shit he used to do in high school but it was just humiliating bringing up past memories especially remembering what had happened after he was caught.

Amora stopped laughing just for a moment to ask her question. "What's that got to do with you and Loki sharing a room together?"

Clint's smirk grew wider and Thor blushed furiously. "Thor was in love with this girl since freshmen year and everyone knew it. I'm guessing he caught Tony and her in the act and he got pissed so he used that against him to force Tony into sharing a room with Loki so that Thor would forgive him."

Tony clapped slowly. "Well done, Barton. You should become some kind of criminal mastermind for the FBI someday."

Clint stuck his tongue out and plopped down to sit on the couch once more. Steve was still trying to get the mental image of Tony's ass out of his mind, with no luck.

"In my defence, I was drunk," Tony continued which made Steve scoff.

"You're always drunk, Tony," Steve said with a wave of his hand and no one could disagree with him, not even Tony himself.

"But wait," Amora interjected, still laughing but only slightly now, "you fucked a girl called Phyllis?"

Everyone snickered behind their hands except Steve who didn't see anything wrong with the poor girl's name. Tony just sent her an unimpressed smile with narrowed eyes. "At least I wasn't the one who was in love with her for four years."

Thor hit him in the shoulder and he let out a pained cry, rubbing the spot where he had been hit. A moment later, Thor calmed down and the red shade on his face was gone.

"No matter. That was in the past," Thor said, "What matters now is the situation at hand. Tony, be sure to keep him safe."

The genius pouted again, something he seemed to do when someone was telling him what to do. "Fine. But just stop acting like his life is on the line and like I'm his baby sitter or something. I don't control him, dude."

"I know, just act like yourself so he does not suspect anything."

"Well, as much fun as it is to tease him, I don't enjoy getting death threats to my dick, Thor. He's one violent guy," Tony said.

"Tony, I warned you before not to ridicule Loki as you did in high school. I will not tell you again," Thor said sternly.

Clint rolled his eyes, "Yeah, like he'll listen to you this time. But I'm sure you have no worries, Thor. Loki can always cut off his balls in the middle of the night when he's being a pain in the ass."

"Well, if he wants to do that he's going to have to get into my bed first," Tony winked and Thor's eyes widened.

"So you are planning to bed my brother!" Thor exclaimed and everyone snickered once more when Tony's face turned scared.

"It was a joke, Goldilocks. Calm down," Tony assured him. Thor narrowed his eyes suspiciously but let it go. Tony breathed out slowly and then placed his hands on his hips.

"Goddamit, I feel like I'm being accused of rape."

oOo

Four hours later, Bruce had arrived in the student lounge from the lab after attending three weekend lectures from his Physics professors that Tony had not bothered to attend with him. He arrived in the middle of a heated discussion between Tony and Steve about fondue and sex, whatever the two had to do with each other he did not know.

They had not left the room all day, luckily with it being supplied with toilets and a working kitchen that none of them needed to leave each other's company. After spending more time with them than she had the chance to before, Amora felt like she was already being welcomed in to the group and she found herself enjoying their company even more, especially since Tony had not hit on her once today which surprised her a little bit but she was glad for it. He had probably given up after seeing that she would not take any of his bullshit. She used to find it weird how Natasha could put up with five boys all at once but after much observation, she found that she was like the mother of the group who everyone looked to for some control and discipline, especially when Tony and Clint got too inappropriate and she was there to stop them from behaving too childishly.

Amora found that she liked their group dynamic and despite how different each one of them were, they were all such great friends and had unique personalities that each other could connect to, like Bruce and Tony's genius brains, even if the two were totally far from each other in characteristics; Tony was a wild playboy whilst Bruce was a calm quasi-introvert.

She wondered why Loki didn't approve of them. He had told her once that he did not have a problem with any of them in particular – except Tony and obviously Thor, of course – and it was only because they were friends with his adopted older brother that he tended to stay away from them, except for Natasha who Loki found exceptionally smart and was one of the only people who didn't annoy him or make him uncomfortable, even if she was quite tense most of the time.

A few more hours later, it was already 9pm and they were one of the only few people left in the lounge. Her and Natasha were on the couch talking quietly about Loki, Steve and Thor were playing video games while Clint watched and Bruce and Tony were in the corner discussing possible projects they could build for their Physics class.

They were all interrupted when Clint pointed out something behind them through the window, outside to the lamp-lit pathway in front of the building.

"Is that Loki outside?"

Everyone's attention snapped up and all turned towards where Clint was pointing.

"Speak of the devil…" Amora muttered under her breath and squinted her eyes to see better. Thanos was with him, smiling and touching his arm like it was nothing. Amora's jaw locked and rolled her eyes at the olive-skinned, blue-eyed man.

"Who is that he is with? Is that _Thanos_?" Thor asked, quickly making his way over to the window and peering over the top of the window sill so Loki wouldn't see him. Tony followed behind, then Clint, Steve and Bruce, Natasha and Amora.

"So this is Loki's type…weird," Clint said, more to himself than anyone.

"He looks nothing like Loki's last man candy," Tony chuckled but Thor gave him a dark look as he remembered Loki's last failed relationship that ended very badly.

It was probably the reason why Loki had put off dating anyone else for so long until college where he could forget about everything and move on.

"I think I've seen him around before," Clint said, "I think he's in my extra philosophy class or something."

Tony snorted. "You go to extra philosophy class?"

Clint nudged him, "Shut up."

Thor shushed them both, never taking his eyes off Loki and Thanos. He eyed Thanos with suspicion every time he touched Loki or got too close.

"This is so weird. We shouldn't be spying on Loki like this," Steve said but no one could seem to look or walk away.

A moment later, no one had moved. Loki and Thanos were still talking outside and they were all gathered around the window non-too discreetly watching them.

"Do you think they'll make out?" Tony whispered again, receiving another disapproving look from Thor.

"He seems to like touching Loki a lot," Clint commented quietly. Everyone had noticed too how many times this new guy had touched Loki's arm in the past two minutes alone. It was making Thor uncomfortable by the second and he started to grip the window sill tightly.

"You know, I've never actually seen Loki smile in so long," Tony observed, "It's making me uncomfortable."

Thor agreed silently with the first part and continued to watch the two outside in worried interest.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Bruce asked, confused.

"Loki's new boyfriend, apparently," Clint shrugged.

"One outing together does not put them into a relationship, Barton," Thor quickly remarked and Bruce rolled his eyes at Thor's protective tone.

"Before you know it, they'll probably be banging on Loki's bed and Tony's gonna walk in on them," Clint snickered and both Natasha and Thor slapped him on each his shoulders.

"Ow! What the hell?" he exclaimed.

"Don't be disgusting," Natasha said simply before walking away to sit on the sofa, having enough of watching Loki and his new date flirting and eye fucking each other.

A minute later, their little whispered discussion had turned into debating what kind of guy Thanos was and whether or not he and Loki would last. Clint and Tony gave it a month, Steve simply said that if they took it slow it would last, Thor simply ignored their little comments about his brother and his new 'date' while Bruce was left wondering who the hell this guy was and what hell everyone was talking about.

Meanwhile, Amora was lost in her jumbled thoughts and then noticed Loki walking away and making his way to the building entrance. The boys' attentions were still focused on Thanos who was waiting till Loki got inside to leave. They didn't seem to notice Loki coming in because they were all too busy watching Thanos with interest.

A moment later, Amora left the window and sat beside Natasha. She looked behind her, expecting Loki to come through the second set of doors any moment. And then there he was, she could see him through the open doorway of the lounge coming through the entrance with a big grin on his face. He was about to walk past the room when he stopped, noticing the guys hunched up by the window. He stopped by the doorway, in perfect hearing distance of what they were talking about and stood there to watch them.

Amora noticed that Thanos was starting to walk away now after seeing Loki go inside. The guys all muttered to each other and stood up to walk away when they all noticed Loki looking at them with a raised brow and a near angry look on his face mixed with annoyance and suspicion.

"Brother! Wha - How – I did not see you come in," Thor nervously said.

Loki's jaw locked in anger, "Was that because you were too busy spying on me and my friend like a bunch of 11 year olds?"

Thor had nothing to say and simply stood there with Loki glaring back at him. Tony decided to interrupt.

"Uh – how was your date?" He said, meaning for it to cut through the tension and not meaning for it to come out nosey or insulting but it did anyway. Thor turned back to glare at him for what seemed like the billionth time that day, he swore.

Loki's eyes flashed in anger and his fists clenched tightly. Thor noticed and tried to assure him that they were not spying at all but it was not easy to calm Loki down.

"What I do does not concern you so you can stop trying to watch over me like some sick mother," Loki spat, "Stop trying to force yourself back in my life when clearly, you have no place in it… _brother_."

Thor knew that Loki was very sensitive when it came to his personal relationships but he did not know that Loki would go off on him so harshly like that.

"Well, that escalated quickly," Tony muttered to the rest of them while Thor stood there; hurt striking his heart as he watched Loki storm off and disappear around the corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment, however long, so I know what you think!


	5. Bucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being patient guys! It's 6am right now and I've just been editing this whole chapter. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
>  **Update** : I wrote the above author's note three nights ago as I intended to publish it then but I realised it wasn't up to scratch :( editing an 8k+ chapter is so long, especially when you're always finding faults with it and constantly changing it up. Natasha's character is the hardest to write in terms of characterization for me and the whole chapter was constantly evolving because I wanted to convey so many little details throughout. I stayed up till 6am three nights in a row trying to get it ready. It took a while but I prioritized this chapter over revision for my exams in two weeks! It may not be up to my usual standard but it is a necessary chapter in terms of the story's progression. If there's any grammar mistakes, please tell me. I hope you still enjoy it though, and I promise chapter 6 will be published as soon as I have time.
> 
> Also, before you all start to hate me, I have 4 law/philosophy exams this January alone and I have not even studied for it yet. So I'm going to be focusing on that for now but I promise as soon as my exams end in late January, I will go straight back to this story. I'll still be working on this in the little spare time I have but not as intensely as usual. Thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback and the love.

  
If you want to see some Frostiron edits for this story, check out my tumblr [houseofloki ](http://houseofloki.tumblr.com/)on my edits page.

User POSTAPOKALYPSO has made one for this story,  [Shades of Grey by Postapokalypso ](http://lokid-by-postapokalypso.tumblr.com/image/155431549029)featuring a young Tom as Loki! Also, make sure to follow her for more Frostiron content on [tumblr](http://lokid-by-postapokalypso.tumblr.com/).

**A chapter dedicated to Bucky.**

 

 

~Shades of Grey~

** Bucky **

Loki stomped out of the elevator, cheeks flushed and an angry expression on his face. He huffed out a breath as the doors slid closed behind him. There was no one in the hallway – thankfully – otherwise they would have felt what it was like to be on the other side of Loki losing his temper.

His fists clenched by his side as he made his way to his room and wondered whether Tony was sleeping or not. Then he remembered that the smug bastard was downstairs, right behind Thor when he had come in and his jaw locked.

_Gods, they cannot just leave me be, can they?_

Just as he was about to put the key into the lock, he heard someone breathlessly calling out his name and rushing towards him. He turned and his expression of annoyance fell slightly, but not altogether.

“Amora? What do you want?”

Amora slowed down to a halt in front of him, pausing to catch her breath then she looked up.

“What the hell just happened downstairs?” She asked, putting her arms on her hips.

He frowned and then mirrored her actions. “What are you talking about?”

She rolled her eyes. “I mean that little temper tantrum just now…with Thor.”

He gritted his teeth and huffed. “I did not have a temper tantrum.”

“Oh come on. One minute you’re all blushing like a little blonde girl then the next, you come in and you’re scratching Thor’s eyes out.”

His eyes narrowed. “Wait, you were there?”

“Yeah, I saw what happened. You know, maybe you should try to be a little patient with your brother. He doesn’t mean to-”

“I don’t care what he does or doesn’t mean to do,” Loki interrupted, “I don’t appreciate him trying to invade every aspect of my life, especially not something as private as what he witnessed.”

Amora sighed heavily this time, like Loki was a stubborn child who wouldn’t get off the swing.

“He wasn’t ‘invading’ into anything. Stop being a drama queen,” Amora countered and Loki was about to speak but she silenced him with a finger, “He was just worried about you, especially going out with someone like Thanos.”’

Loki’s jaw locked. “What does he know about Thanos?”

Amora looked at him for a moment before his eyes narrowed at her and she felt heated under his accusing gaze.

“What did you tell him?”

She cleared her throat. “Nothing significant, just that it’s better if you stayed away from him.”

Loki’s face dropped. “You realise now that you’ve told him that, he’s going to try and worm his way into my life even more and believe that he’s looking out for me.”

Amora shrugged. “It wouldn’t be such a bad thing if he did.”

“Did you not listen to anything I told you that day we met?”

“Yes Loki, but I only heard your side of it. Now that I’ve gotten to know Thor and the others slightly better and the fact that you’re hanging out with Thanos now, I’m starting to see why Thor has such an instinct to protect you,” Amora said, shrugging and trying her best to be nonchalant as she stared at Loki, waiting for his reaction.

Loki narrowed his eyes once more. Amora was starting to despise how often he did that.

“What does that mean?”

She huffed. “I’m saying that it seems like you tend to get yourself into these weird situations and you’re always refusing to listen to anyone.”

Loki crossed his arms. “What has that oaf told you?”

“Stop calling your brother an oaf,” she pouted, “And I know enough for me to get the gist of your past.”

Loki tensed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Thor’s always trying to help you out before something bad happens but you don’t listen.”

“You know nothing of my relationship with him,” Loki growled, proceeding to unlock his door when Amora put her hand on his arm.

“Loki, stop being so stubborn!”

He snatched his arm away from her grasp and she stumbled back slightly. “Don’t you dare act as if you know anything about me. I may have divulged the basics of my situation but that does not mean you have the right to evaluate my problems as if you truly know me. If you know what’s good for you, stay out of my way. Go befriend that oaf and his friends for all I care but as far as I’m concerned, I’m responsible for myself and answer to no one,” Loki’s eyes fumed, the green seeming almost snakelike and bright against the dimly lit hallway.

“Goodnight.”

And with that, he disappeared inside his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Amora stood still for a moment, eyeing the door wondering if he would come out and apologise.

But no, that wasn’t in Loki’s nature. He was unapologetic and shameless.

Realising this, her shoulders drooped. With a sigh, she turned away and made her way back down to the common room.

Loki was a stubborn ass, but she also realised that she had overstepped her boundaries. Despite knowing him for a couple of weeks, it still wasn’t in her place to lecture him about his relationship with Thor. She had no idea what he had been through, especially since she and Lorelei had a better relationship than the two boys and their unknown parentage had not caused a rift.

For Loki, it was the exact opposite.

Despite knowing he did not care for it, she felt pity for him in that moment. Thor was a well-intentioned guy, jovial and caring. Next to him, it would certainly be difficult to compete for attention. She could understand where Loki’s despise came from, especially after finding out about his parentage. Maybe it was jealousy, or spite that he never truly belonged. Loki did not seem like the type of person who’s emotions could be so easily swayed by anything, but when she recalled the way he had told her a few weeks prior of his and Thor’s situation, she remembered the tone of his voice and the way he seemed like he was recalling the gruesome details of his own death. And she knew that it really did something to him.

She found herself pondering how many times exactly in Loki’s life that he had been truly affected by anything. He was an uncaring person, generally cold towards those he didn’t care for, but if what had been revealed about the recent past were true, Loki had only been truly hurt twice in his life.

And for that, she pitied him even more.

 

 

 

oOo

Loki slammed the door shut behind him, not caring how loud it was this time of night.

He threw the keys on his bed, letting out a frustrated growl as he flopped on top of his covers. He looked up at the ceiling, frowning as he tried to will away the heavy feeling in his heart.

He could handle Stark and his ‘not-brother’, but now even Amora was taking sides and it wasn’t his. He thought she would understand him and know that being under Thor’s watchful eye was anything but good, but she had started sympathising with the blond and was telling Loki off.

_“I’m starting to see why Thor has such an instinct to protect you…”_

Amora’s word resounded in his head and he sat up suddenly.

What _had_ they told her?

She had mentioned understanding things more clearly about him. Thor knew that Loki would rip him to pieces if he ever said anything to anyone about Loki’s previous problems, so there was little chance that he had divulged that kind of sensitive information to anyone who didn’t already know.

But then again, Thor had a knack for blurting information out without thinking. He knew that Tony and the others knew the basics of all that had happened in the Odinson family since they were Thor’s closest friends, but if Thor had said anything at all to Amora or anyone else, Loki would explode.

He thought of the way Thor’s face had dropped when he realised that he had been caught spying, and Loki’s body filled with contempt. He hated the way Thor was always trying to get into his business, he hated Thor’s lack of consideration for his privacy and above all, he hated how Thor never seemed to know how much Loki hated everything he did.

There was nothing more annoying than someone who couldn’t take a hint, especially when those hints were more like ten pianos falling on your head. Loki was never subtle. Yet Thor never seemed to get the message.

Loki hated it all.

And now, after the events of the night, facing Thor and then Amora, he’d have to face the worst one of all.

He knew as soon as that door opened, he’d be subjected to Tony’s incessant yammering. He knew he would just use this as an opportunity to ridicule Loki for a long time. They’d all seen Thanos and him outside the building, flirting and being touchy. He would’ve blushed if it weren’t for the fact that he never allowed himself to.

Especially not because of Tony Stark.

Tony was the only one who dared cross Loki in anyway, and was the only one who would be able to live to tell the tale.

He lay there for what seemed like a lifetime, he was so exhausted after all those confrontations earlier that he didn’t feel like he could move.

He felt a vibration on his leg and took his phone out of his pocket. He opened it and saw a message, which immediately made him smile.

**_Hey, I had an amazing time earlier. I hope you did too._ **

It was from Thanos.

Loki completely forgot about his earlier date. His frown was replaced by a small smile, the heaviness in his body fading slightly.

He and Thanos spent hours in the corner of the quaint little shop, chatting away about random topics of history and literature, as well as getting to know more about the other’s personal interests and other such requirements that you needed to know on a first date. He had enjoyed himself thoroughly, especially knowing that Thanos had no ties to Thor. He was intriguing, and Loki felt himself being pulled closer. They did not mean to stay at the café for so long but Loki didn’t mind, if Thanos didn’t either. It was refreshing to have a nice conversation with someone who didn’t know of his issues.

It gave him even more reason to hate Thor. He had ruined what was a perfectly good day, which Loki thought was nothing new but it didn’t lessen his anger.

He texted back a quick reply.

**_I had a great time too. And thank you for walking me back._ **

He felt another smile creep up on his face as he saw that Thanos had replied almost immediately.

**_I hope it wasn’t too forward of me. If it’s okay with you, I’d love to take you out again?_ **

Loki was about to reply with a positive, but suddenly stopped.

Was this really a good idea right now?

He wasn’t blaming Thanos for anything, but if Thor was worried about Loki, not that the younger cared, it would mean that he would not get any peace or privacy with Thor butting in, probably reporting back to their mother about Loki’s activities.

Frigga had already tried to get in contact with him a total of ten times in the past few weeks. He enjoyed his date earlier, but if it meant getting Thor off his back even just for a little bit, he would lay low for now and maybe reschedule Thanos’ offer of a date.

He felt a sudden lump in his throat, his pride wounded at the fact that Thor was already affecting his social life despite the promise he had made to himself. However, he didn’t want any more run-ins where anyone had more reason to sympathise with Thor.

He hated how Thor always turned out like the victim, when in reality it was Loki who was always suffering the brunt of all the hatred. Even in high school, after both he and Thor found out that they weren’t actually blood brothers, no one seemed to care about how he felt. They only offered support to Thor who had spent a whole month sulking around school, skipping swimming practice every Wednesdays and Thursdays which, as the coach had argued, had resulted in the school getting third place in nationals.

Loki knew that he didn’t have that many friends and no one ever really knew him much more beyond that he was Thor’s little brother, but he thought they could’ve at least shown him some sympathy. It wouldn’t have helped the way he felt about the situation but it exposed the way people saw Loki even more.

Unimportant and second best.

 

 

 

oOo

Tony tried his best to listen to Thor ranting in his ear beside him on the sofa, but he was too busy daydreaming and trying to drown Thor’s voice out of his head.

“Okay, I know we’re not meant to ask but why don’t you just let Loki live his own life?” Steve piped up, prompting Thor to frown.

“He is living his own life! But he is my brother, I need to look out for him,” Thor crossed his burly arms, sighing regrettably.

“There isn’t anything wrong with looking out for him, but you’re constantly worried about him and I’m starting to think you bore him in your womb or something,” Steve rolled his eyes.

Thor perked up. “I do not have a womb!”

Bruce rolled his eyes.

“He’s saying you’re acting like Loki’s mother,” Bruce explained, exchanging a shake of the head with Steve.

“Honestly Thor,” Steve walked towards him, “I’m all for looking after family but when Loki’s constantly pushing you away, I think you should take it as a giant hint.”

Thor looked at him, sadness starting to cloud his eyes. He ran his hands over his face and everyone stayed silent, not knowing what to say. A moment later, Tony shifted in his seat and turned to look at Thor. He placed a hand on the blond’s shoulder and squeezed it slightly.

“Don’t worry, big guy. You’ve got me, remember?”

Thor nodded at him and smiled, thanking Tony for his cooperation.

Tony may have been many things, but no one could say that he wasn’t there for his friends when they truly needed him. Maybe he wasn’t the right person to be keeping an eye on Loki, what with their bad relationship and the fact that his eyes literally always went wandering, but if he made a promise, he’d be true to his word.

He nodded back, remembering the day Thor came to him, asking for his help.

 

 

 

~*~

**Near end of senior year, late June**

_There was never a hotter day that year than the one Tony was experiencing right now. He was splayed out against the bleachers, resting on his elbows as he soaked up the sun in nothing more than his shorts and white vest. He eyed the cheerleading squad practicing right in the middle of the football field in perfect view, ruffling his hair to get rid of the sweat forming._

_Steve made a disgusted noise._

_“Tony, do you think you could target your spray elsewhere?”_

_Tony turned to him, winking. “I’m trying but the cheerleaders are too far away.”_

_Bruce, who sat just behind him, rolled his eyes as he was always prone to do whenever Tony said anything, ever._

_“Is there anything you think about that doesn’t have anything to do with your need for physical attention?” Bruce asked._

_Tony shrugged. “Probably not.”_

_“I know it’s nearly summer and all, but does it have to be so hot?” Steve complained, starting to unbutton his white dress shirt._

_Tony wondered why he was wearing a dress shirt to begin with. Steve was halfway down the buttons when Tony nudged him. The blond looked up at him, stopping._

_“Do you think if you just ripped off your shirt and made it quick, Toni Lane would come over here?”_

_Sure enough as Steve looked up, Toni had stopped in her steps and was standing in the field watching him, trying to be as subtle as possible but no one was being fooled. Steve looked down, trying to hide a chuckle and he quickly buttoned up the last two buttons he had undone and left the top two open._

_Toni Lane was the head cheerleader, and one of the most beautiful girls in school. She had been trying to flirt with Steve since freshman year but as was the situation with everyone who had tried to go after him, she hadn’t gotten anywhere._

_“I don’t know what it is with you and women, Rogers.”_

_Steve shrugged. “Not interested.”_

_“That’s my point,” Tony slapped his back. “You got women all over you and still nothing.”_

_“Some of us can actually keep it in our pants dude,” Bruce kicked him in the back softly and Tony pouted._

_“That’s why you guys are no fun,” Tony replied._

_Steve smirked as Tony continued to pout, returning to watching the cheerleading team resume their training as Toni got back to her senses. They sat there peacefully for a few minutes before a large figure walked over, blocking the sun from Tony’s view._

_“Hey, big guy do you mind? I’m trying to sunbathe here.”_

_Thor looked down at all of them; frown on his face and fist clenched._

_“Tony, may I have a word?”_

_Tony looked up at him, curious. “Take a seat.”_

_Thor shook his head. “Alone.”_

_Tony rolled his eyes, head falling backwards. He motioned to Bruce and Steve to leave but they only glared at him._

_“Take a hike, Tony,” Steve said, unimpressed._

_Bruce hid a smile, waiting for Tony to get up as Thor hadn’t stopped looking at him still waiting for him to move._

_Tony slowly stood up, giving the two boys an annoyed look before he turned to Thor._

_“For fucks sake,” Tony muttered under his breath._

_The blond nodded at Steve and Bruce before he walked down the steps and went behind the bleachers, stopping next to the water fountain as Tony followed him begrudgingly._

_“What’s up, buttercup?”_

_Thor stopped and turned around, giving the other a half-hearted glare. Tony crossed his arms, leaning against a nearby pole as he eyed Thor. He motioned for the blond to speak._

_“You owe me, Tony,” Thor started._

_Tony raised a brow and started to tap his chin in contemplation._

_“Money?”_

_Thor rolled his eyes and placed his hands on his hips._

_“No, I do not talk of your wealth,” Thor said, “I talk of Loki.”_

_“Loki,” Tony stood up straight, even more confused now as to what he possibly could have done this time._

_“I need you to look after Loki,” Thor said._

_“You mean babysit him?” Tony scoffed at the thought. “Thor, I know he’s a little shit sometimes but I hardly think he’s gonna cause trouble if you leave him at home.”_

_Thor huffed. “No, my brother is not a dog.”_

_Tony laughed, thinking about Loki as a dog. He always thought Loki would be better as a black-furred cat._

_“Would be a cute little kitten, though,” Tony thought aloud._

_“This has naught to do with animals.”_

_“So what exactly are you asking?”_

_“I overheard Natasha and Loki engaged in conversation yesterday. Loki plans to cut me out of his life when we all depart for college,” Thor’s voice held evident sadness._

_Tony wasn’t surprised. Loki had always tried his hardest to avoid Thor, especially after finding out about his adoption. He seriously wondered how he didn’t notice; the guy had black hair in a family of blondes. Tony pushed that thought aside to focus on Thor, still not knowing what he was getting at._

_“I’m sorry man, but what does that have to do with me?”_

_“I need you to room with Loki when we arrive there,” Thor said without blinking._

_Tony stared at him. "Excuse me?"_

_"I want to stay close to him without being a hassle. I need you to room with him."_

_There was a moment or two of silence, Thor’s gaze not wavering and Tony looking back at him. He burst out laughing, his shoulders shaking as he thought about the idea of him actually being Loki’s roommate. Could he even imagine the chaos that would unleash upon the world if he and Loki lived together?_

_“I do not jest, Tony,” Thor said solidly. ""I want to keep an eye on him for my mother and father. It is my duty as his family."_

_Tony looked at him and continued to shake with laughter, clutching the pole as he tried to gather himself. Thor crossed his arms, exposing the veins on them even more and Tony ran his fingers through his hair whilst trying to stop laughing._

_“Oh man, I think that’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard you tell,” He covered his face with his hand, letting out a heavy sigh still smiling._

_“Do I look to be in a gaming mood?” Thor growled slightly._

_Tony peeked at him through his fingers for a moment before dropping his arm to clutch at his hip._

_“I assume you are considering what you just said,” Tony raised his brows._

_Thor glared at him._

_“Oh, you’re really not kidding?”_

_“No, Tony.”_

_“Fuck off.”_

_Tony turned away, about to walk off when Thor grabbed his shoulder._

_“I know it’s not an ideal situation,” Thor said._

_Tony turned around with a scoff. “Ideal? Getting your eyes scratched out compared to what you just asked me is ideal.”_

_“You owe me, Tony.”_

_Tony made a face. “Yeah about that, how exactly do I owe you?”_

_“Phyllis.”_

_Tony groaned, putting his face in his hands once more._

_“Oh, man. I thought you were over that!” Tony cried._

_“Aye, but you still owe me.”_

_“You didn’t talk to me for a week! You told me you forgave me!”_

_“I do forgive you…if you do this for me.”_

_“So you lied, you hadn’t forgiven me?”_

_“Hm, I rescind it.”_

_“So you spent six months acting like we were friends but we really weren’t?” Tony narrowed his eyes in mock hurt and shook his head. “That is low, Thor.”_

_“I do not wish to discuss technicalities, Tony.”_

_“Why can’t you get Natasha to do it?”_

_“She cannot room with a man, Tony.”_

_“Steve?”_

_“I have asked the others but alas, they are not willing.”_

_“Hurrah, that’s a surprise,” Tony crossed his arms like a child scorned. “And anyway, how exactly do you expect me to just randomly have Loki as my roommate?”_

_“I am sure you will have no trouble. Your father made a generous donation last year so I am positive they will accommodate his son in whatever way. Granting you a specific room upon request is hardly the least they could do.”_

_“Psycho,” Tony glowered._

_“And do you remember in junior year when you and that girl fooled around in your father’s bedroom? Be a shame if he were to find out.”_

_Tony’s mouth opened slightly. He narrowed his eyes after a moment._

_“You wouldn’t dare.”_

_“Would I not? If I recall, you blamed that on me and Mr. Stark has not been able to say two words to me since!”_

_“Blame? You make it sound so negative, I made you sound like a total stud!”_

_“And when you set my mother’s drapes on fire during the summer and I again took the blame because you jumped out the window before she arrived?”_

_Tony chuckled. “Come on, you gotta give me that. I didn’t realise there was pure vodka in that water bottle.”_

_Thor shook his head._

_“My point is that there are so many falls I have taken for you and things I have forgiven you for and I only ask this one thing.”_

_“True friends don’t keep count.”_

_Thor rolled his eyes. “Yes, usually that is what I would say but this is important. Not just for me but my whole family, Loki included.”_

_There was a moment of silence between them before Thor spoke again._

_“I am not asking a favour.”_

_Tony huffed. “That’s really going to make me wanna say yes to this plan.”_

_“You know my brother. He will hardly be jumping at the prospect of spending time with me once we all depart. Once we get there, I just know I will never get to see him. I probably will not even know if he is alive or not halfway through the year.”_

_“So you ARE asking me to babysit him?” Tony asked._

_“No. I am asking you to keep an eye on him.”_

_“Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.”_

_“I am really not asking,” Thor assured._

_“Is this all because you want to spend time with him? Because I don’t think it’ll happen even if we lived together.”_

_“No, no,” Thor shook his head. He thought for a moment before continuing with a sad sigh, “After all the events that have occurred this year, I cannot let Loki be by himself, especially in a new environment.”_

_“I really do think he can look after hims-”_

_“Tony,” Thor growled, “He is my brother. As independent as he thinks he is, he still gets into trouble. You know that.”_

_Tony backed down slightly, remembering what Thor had told them all._

_“Is this about him and Alexe-”_

_“Do not say his name,” Thor barked._

_Tony put his hands up to apologise as he watched Thor’s eyes go dark for a moment before they turned light blue again._

_He stayed silent, thinking about how he really had no say in the matter now. As much as he hated to admit it, being in Thor’s shoes, he would want someone to keep an eye on Loki. Much like Tony, Loki was stubborn and did not play well with others. But after all the shit that went down with the Odinsons, especially with the youngest, he knew Thor was right to seek help._

_“Tony,” Thor started, knocking him out of his thoughts, “it would ease my mind greatly.”_

_Tony sighed, defeated._

_“God damn it, why me?” Tony put his hands up to the sky, pleading._

_“You are the only one I can blackmail,” Thor chuckled._

_“You know, asking me to live with him for the whole year means you’ll have to owe me next year.”_

_Thor smiled. “I do not mind.”_

_“I hate you, dude.”_

_Thor shrugged, implying he did not care._

_“Is there absolutely nothing else I can do to earn your forgiveness?”_

_“I thought on it long and hard.”_

_“I could easily make it through my whole life with you hating me if I refuse to do this.”_

_“I am taking advantage of your loyalty towards your friends; therefore I know you will not refuse to do this if you want me to forgive you.”_

_Tony would’ve laughed at Thor’s bluntness had he not just been asked to, essentially, jump into a pool of lava._

_Tony glared at him. “I really, really, really hate you, man.”_

_“I have your hate and you will have my forgiveness,” Thor nodded._

_“Really fucking hate you,” Tony tried to muster his most spiteful voice._

_Thor only laughed, knowing Tony would agree anyway. He waited for Tony to ‘make up his mind’ even though he knew what his decision already was. Tony looked up at him finally and Thor motioned for him to continue._

_“Alright, alright Point Break. I’ll do it.” Tony groaned into his hands again when Thor gave him the biggest smile he could muster._

_Thor really was the most erratic person he knew. He could be sad one moment, but he would never be without a smile for more than five minutes no matter what._

_“You are the truest friend,” Thor hugged him tightly, squeezing him despite Tony’s protests._

_Thor let him go and put a hand on his shoulder, thanking him._

_“You have my gratitude, Tony,” Thor said._

_“Hm, and my balls.”_

_Thor walked off with a huge smile, success evident in his air. He knew Loki would not like this idea but it was the only way he thought of that assured he would see Loki enough to be able to know how he was doing without having to make conversation. He left Tony standing there, feeling like he just sold his soul to the devil._

_Tony rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and leaned against the pole as he pondered how quickly he could end his life right now and avoid all the shit he would have to go through later on._

 

 

 

~*~

His thoughts faded as he was brought back to the present, noticing Thor still in a sour mood.

“Brighten up,” Clint assured Thor; patting him on the back, “At least he called you brother this time.”

Thor’s shoulders dropped. Everyone glared at him, rolling their eyes after he put up his hands as if to innocently ask what he said wrong. Natasha grabbed his arm and motioned for him to sit down and shut up.

“I need to retire to my room,” Thor stood up and said goodnight to everyone.

He sulked to the exit and closed the glass door behind him. Tony glanced at everyone else who looked at each other.

“Man, Loki went in, huh?” Clint said awkwardly.

“He really knows how to hurt Thor with his words,” Steve observed.

“It’s like he has no filter,” Amora commented, recalling what Loki had said to her a few minutes ago.

“You have no idea,” Bruce assured.

They stayed silent once more, all in their own thoughts about the puzzle that was Thor and Loki’s relationship.

Tony wondered whether or not he should go up there and see whether Loki was trashing the room or not. Loki had never given Tony that look he gave Thor earlier; there was a curious glint in his eye that could have been mistaken for green fire. Despite his and Loki’s endless disagreements, he knew the truly livid expressions were saved only for Thor. Because of this, he was curious as to what Loki would say when he came back knowing the brunt of his anger was aimed mostly at his brother. He wasn’t in a mood to have a quarrel, contrary to popular belief, but he wanted to see what Loki was up to.

He made a move to get up off the sofa and stretched out his arms.

“Right, I’m off to bed,” he said, following Thor’s cue.

“At 9:30? Wow, that’s a record for you,” Steve commented.

“I’ve been spending too much time with all you losers,” Tony smirked, “I need some new company.”

Bruce smiled. “The only one waiting for you in your room is Loki, and I’m willing to bet he’s still pissed.”

“Good luck, man,” Clint said.

Tony huffed, saying he could handle Loki even at his worst temper. He said goodnight to everyone and made his way into the elevator. Once it reached his level, he walked tiredly towards his room and opened the door, lock click signalling his arrival.

He peered inside and looked to Loki’s side of the room. He was lying on his bed, clad in his usual pajamas and nose in a book.

_Fucking hell, does he ever stop?_

Tony wondered whether or not Loki knew he was here or if he was just ignoring him.

“Watching me again, are you Stark? Did you not get enough of a look earlier?” Loki said harshly, his voice croaky but cutting nonetheless.

 _Never mind_ , Tony thought.

He entered the room confidently and shut the door behind him. He walked over to sit down on his bed and finally saw Loki’s face behind the book, his eyes scanning the pages and still not looking at Tony. He knew he was trying to ignore him, his brows furrowing in concentration. Tony imagined him with black cat ears in that moment. He chuckled softly.

Loki’s eyes flickered to him. He watched as Tony’s lips formed a smirk and he felt his vision go red.

“Why the hell are you smirking?”

Tony’s eyes flicked briefly to Loki again and then sat up in bed. “You just look so adorable.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed. “Patronise me again and you’ll find some of your limbs missing by tomorrow morning.”

Tony’s brows raised and his mouth opened in feigned shock. “That was a compliment! Come on!”

“A compliment from you? That’s right below having you as a roommate on the list of things I don’t need whatsoever,” Loki threw at him casually. His legs slipped from under the blanket and landed on the floor as he stretched his long limbs.

“Ah, Loks. Never fail to make me laugh,” Tony smiled.

Loki rolled his eyes. “Enough of this, Stark. Listen here,” he stood up and moved to tower over Tony who was still sitting in bed, now looking up at Loki’s tall form.

“Let me make this clear to you since you don’t seem to understand. I don’t like you, and you don’t like me. I-”

Tony frowned in shock again. “Now why would you think that I don’t like-”

“Shut up,” Loki cut him off, “I don’t care what you do or who you do or anything regarding your activities outside of this room. I didn’t plan to have you living in my quarters but since I have no other choice, let me explain the rules. I want to live in peace without you in the way so you do not talk to me, do not look at me, and do not even think about me. I will ignore you as if you do not exist and that is the way it will stay from the moment I finish. You will not spy on me anymore as you did earlier and you will certainly not meddle in my affairs. I live my life, you live yours. You and Thor can do whatever you please as long as I am not involved in any way. You can relay the message to him tomorrow as well, you hear?”

Tony was taken aback for a second at the suddenness of the outburst but not entirely surprised.

“Whoa, whoa, fucking hell Loki. Alright, I hear ya,” Tony put his hands up in mock defeat.

“You’ve caused me enough trouble this morning even when you were unconscious,” Loki crossed his arms and walked back to his bed.

“You liked it,” Tony muttered to himself, pouting.

Loki’s head whipped back to give Tony his sharpest glare, and he didn’t even have to say anything when Tony put up his hands once more as a sign of apology. Loki rolled his eyes, annoyed before he turned away. Tony sighed heavily and collapsed back on top of his mattress, thinking that in a past life, Loki would have been a dagger.

 

 

 

oOo

During the next week, Loki didn’t engage in any interaction with anyone. He woke up, went to his classes, paid an occasional visit to the library, then retired to his room for some privacy.

Away from the world was where he felt most comfortable, with the only person who wholly knew and appreciated his existence; himself.

Fortunately, he had only seen Tony no more than thrice since his date. When pretending to be asleep in his own bed, he had heard Tony on the phone with Bruce, discussing a robotics competition that they had entered. He was starting to think that maybe Tony was starting to sleep in the laboratory as he rarely came back to their room anymore. There was a silence Loki enjoyed since Tony had been more absent but he found himself bored sometimes when there was nobody to converse with.

He and Amora avoided each other since that night but he found himself not really caring. He wasn’t expecting an apology from her for being so nosey but he wasn’t going to apologise either. He had done nothing wrong and frankly, being Natasha’s roommate, she was probably already settling in comfortably into their group. He felt slightly put off by the fact that another one of his acquaintances had thrown in their sympathy with Thor but no matter, Loki didn’t need them anyway.

Thanos had seen him only once during the past week, and due to Loki’s request, he had let him be for now and let him focus on his work. He felt rather guilty for essentially telling the guy to back off but Loki didn’t think he could handle any more drama and he knew it would just find him had he and Thanos gone on another outing and delved more into their interest in each other.

Thanos was charming but Loki needed some time to himself. At least for now.

But since he had no one else really to converse with (besides Natasha but she was too busy with her own work these days) he decided to start checking out one of the clubs and societies around the campus and maybe attend a meeting. As he walked around one evening, he found a flyer on the giant noticeboard in the student building for a literature society where, as it mentioned, they would be discussing Oscar Wilde and watching “The Picture of Dorian Grey”. Loki made a mental note to remember to attend just to see how much his fellow scholars really knew about the subject.

So, the next night he found himself outside the building that the flyer had told him to go to. It was in the middle of campus a few minutes from his dorm. It was 7pm but due to the approaching autumn, sunset was coming faster and faster and the day had already turned to night. He walked to the entrance and walked around for a couple of minutes trying to found the room. Finally, he saw the correct number on a plaque outside a set of antique mahogany doors.

He looked at his watch.

_6:50 pm._

He was ten minutes early but he decided to go inside and wait anyway.

He opened the door and looked around. It wasn’t a big room, maybe only double the size of his dining room back at home. The room itself looked unkempt and dirty. It was dimly lit by the flickering light bulb hanging from the top of the ceiling. He noticed the way the yellowing white paint of the walls were falling off in flecks and how the floor had no carpet on it. It was just cold stone and it gave him shivers. There was a trolley with an old television on top of it by the front corner furthest from the door. Red plastic chairs were laid out in the middle to form a circle and he noticed the limited number of seats.

_Must not be a very popular club._

He took the seat nearest the windows, looking around. It seemed to be nothing more than a glorified broom closet. He felt slightly uncomfortable being alone in such a room and contemplated leaving for a minute or two before the door opened again. Loki looked up, looking at who had come in.

He was a brunet guy, dressed none too spectacularly in jeans, a grey jacket and a black cap. He made eye contact with Loki for a moment before looking away and taking off his cap. His tousled hair reached to his shoulders. He was a similar height to Loki, but was of a more muscular build in his arms and chest. He had a handsome face hidden behind untidy stubble around his lips and chin reaching up to his sideburns. He took a seat right opposite Loki.

He took off his coat and Loki had to stop himself from gasping.

The unknown man had some kind of silver metal left arm which Loki didn’t expect to see. He had worn gloves but took them off in the process to reveal a metal hand as well. The length of his arm disappearing into the sleeve of his shirt was metal. It looked just like an arm except it was metal.

_It’s metal. His arm is metal. Why is it metal?_

_The word’s lost all meaning._

Loki realised he was staring when the man cleared his throat and his eyes snapped up to his face. He looked away rather quickly, embarrassed and pretended to read the flyer he still had in his hand.

“You’re new.”

Loki looked at him. The guy cocked his brow.

“Y-yes. I am.”

The guy looked him up and down, face set in a serious frown. His voice was rather deep and raspy but confident.

“You ever seen a metal arm before?”

Loki frowned. “Uh…excuse me?”

“I’m Bucky,” he introduced himself. “Have you ever seen a metal arm before?”

“No, I don’t think I have,” Loki replied, trying to sound less nervous than he felt.

“You wanna touch it?”

Loki was taken aback, and it was evident by the look on his face. He cocked a confused brow at Bucky. He chuckled in response.

“I was kidding. What’s your name?”

Loki cleared his throat. “Loki.”

“Well Loki, I guess you and I are in the same boat, aren’t we?”

“What do you mean?” Loki asked. He was starting to get even more uncomfortable. He felt like he was somewhat in danger but did not know why. The guy was so blunt.

“Well you showed up here today. You’re obviously coming here for the same thing I am.”

Why was this guy being so mysterious? Loki was starting to think he should have stayed in his room. He continued staring at Bucky trying to gauge what the hell he was on about. Bucky sighed and rubbed his metal arm.

“What’s your damage?”

Loki felt like he was in some intense thriller film. In a rare display, he had absolutely no idea what was going on right now. Bucky was watching him carefully, clutching at his arm and Loki felt like he was in a glass box.

“What are you on about?” Loki finally asked.

“Everyone’s got their own story, I’m just asking what’s yours. I’m going to hear it eventually anyway,” Bucky shrugged.

"I do not know what you mean,” Loki said.

“Well then I guess you don’t get to hear about my arm. Fair’s fair,” Bucky crossed his arms, his metal one making a sound as he stretched it over.

Loki was beginning to get agitated. “Will you stop speaking in riddles?”

“Huh?”

Just as Loki was about to speak again, the door opened and a blond haired student appeared. Loki recognised him as the guy who had given him his introduction packet on the first day. Phil Coulson.

He walked in, looking around and spotted Loki.

“Ah, I know you! You’re Loki, aren’t you?” Phil walked over to the two boys and put his hands on his hips, smile on his face.

Loki nodded simply and turned back to face Bucky who was staring back at him.

"You're joining us then?"

"Yes, I think so," Loki said, confused.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. We needed some new faces. There’s only been five of us here since the semester started,” Phil said, gesturing to Bucky and himself.

“Five?” Loki asked surprised.

“Yep, but I guess not everyone’s as ready to be as open about their experiences as you guys,” Phil shrugged.

Loki frowned. “Their experiences?”

Phil nodded. “You know, to discuss their past and all that. I know it’s hard for people to talk about things but I made this group so you guys can have some support from each other.”

“What?”

“You’re here for the support group aren’t you?” Phil questioned, cocking his head to the side.

Loki gulped.

“Uh… support group?”

Phil and Bucky looked at each other.

“You’re not here for ASG?” Phil asked, turning to him.

“ASG?”

“Abuse Survivors Group,” Bucky looked at him without blinking, arms still crossed and face as serious as ever.

Loki stood up as quick as he could, making his chair fall over. “Gods, no!”

Phil took a step back. “Whoa, it’s okay.”

Loki clenched his fist by his side, scrunching up the leaflet as he did so. Phil and Bucky eyed him carefully as he walked over his fallen chair and made his way to the door.

“Thank you for your help,” Loki gritted his teeth in annoyance and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving the two men looking after him in confusion and shock.

He stomped out of the building, breathing heavily feeling his chest tighten. He didn’t know what emotions were going through him right now but he knew he just wanted to collapse.

He suddenly felt cold and it wasn’t the breeze of oncoming autumn.

 

 

 

oOo

Loki had been laying in bed for the past two days. The weekend had come around but he still didn’t want to move. He saw Tony a couple times when he had come back to their room, finally. They exchanged a few words which were none too pleasant, as usual.

But Tony was lacking in his usual comebacks and Loki was glad. He knew they were both tired for whatever reasons so when he heard Tony snoring from the bed opposite his, he closed his eyes, sighing and thanking the gods for exhaustion.

On the third night of his seclusion, he heard a knock on his door at 9 pm. He groaned into his pillow, wondering whether he would become non-existent if he squeezed himself into the bed further.

“Loki?”

Loki peered over the top of his blanket, the familiar voice catching his attention.

“It’s Nat, open up."

Loki stayed silent.

"I know you're in there, Odinson. We need to talk.”

He cringed at the name and put the blanket over his face. He didn't want to face anyone, certainly not Natasha as he knew that tone in her voice just now; she was either going to scold him or try to get some information out of him.

"Come on, let me in," she knocked again.

"I wish to be alone, Natasha. Go away!" he mustered in the most convincing annoyed tone he could manage.

"You know me well enough by now that you know that ain't happening," she replied.

He closed his eyes, breathing in slowly before he threw the blanket off and stood up from his bed. He didn’t have time to stretch as Natasha was knocking insistently on the door.

“I’m coming, Natasha!” He half-shouted.

He rushed to the door and opened it, finding Natasha standing there with her arms crossed.

“Is Tony here?”

Loki shook his head.

“Good.”

She pushed past him into the room, stopping in the middle and looked around. She kicked a black shirt off the carpet onto Loki’s bed.

“You are living in a pigsty,” she commented.

Loki rolled his eyes and threw the shirt off his bed onto Tony’s. “Stark’s.”

Natasha crossed her arms, turning around to face him.

“I talked to Bucky.”

"Bucky? Who-" recognition crossed his face and he pouted. “W-what? You know him?”

Natasha nodded. “Yep, he told me about what happened.”

“Why on earth is he talking to others about me? He does not know me!”

“That’s not the point, Loki.”

Loki sat on his bed looking up at her, trying to decipher what she was going to say next. She sighed as she eyed him and ran her fingers through her red hair.

“I don’t want to upset you or anything but… but are you having trouble with Alexei again?”

Loki’s face contorted into anger. “Do not say his name, Natasha!”

She put her hands up. “I’m sorry, I know you asked me not to but I had to see how you were.”

"I _was_ fine before you mentioned that," Loki bit out. “Why on earth would you bring that up again?”

“Bucky told me you were at his meeting the other day. I didn’t know you were trying to get help again, you should’ve come to me!”

"Help? What are you-"

"You went to a support group for... for abuse survivors," she whispered the last bit, watching Loki's face flinch.

“I did not come to that meeting on purpose,” Loki grit his teeth in annoyance, eyes closed as he remembered the way he stormed out of there.

Natasha cocked her head to the side. “You didn’t?”

Loki groaned, falling back onto his bed, hands covering his face.

“No, I was supposed to attend another social but somehow ended up there. I did not intend to,” he explained.

Natasha’s raised a suspicious brow.

“Are you lying to me?”

Loki huffed. “I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”

“Damn straight.”

She walked to Tony’s bed and sat on it, facing Loki and watching him carefully. He got up slowly, leaning back on his elbows.

“I’m sorry, Loks,” she whispered.

He looked at her, eyes sad and bit his lip. He felt anger towards her, no doubt after having mentioned who he forbade everyone to talk about. But he knew that she was only worried for him even if he did not like anyone trying to help him. He could sort out his own problems but Natasha was just as stubborn as he.

“Were you feeling alright? I mean, after leaving the meeting?”

He looked down at his lap for a moment before speaking. “Yes… I guess.”

She nodded. “You know if you’re… having trouble with it again you can always come to me.”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry if it brought back any memories.”

“Please,” Loki stopped her with a hand, “I do not wish to discuss this right now.”

“Loki…”

“Yes?”

“It’s okay to face your past,” she whispered. “There’s no need to be ashamed of it. Maybe joining that group isn’t such a bad idea.”

“Natasha, I cannot hear this now.” Loki hissed. “I’ve forgotten about it, just leave it alone.”

“I know you’re strong, there’s no denying that. But you’re also stubborn. And I need you to know that sometimes, being strong means facing your problems. Not forgetting them.”

He looked at her and shook his head.

“Would you want to remember?”

“If it meant moving past it, then yes,” she said.

“I am past it!” Loki cried, “I was there by accident, it doesn’t mean anything, gods!”

He felt himself shutting down as the conversation went on. He didn’t want to be having this discussion at all. He felt like he was being cornered but he knew Natasha wouldn’t leave until she got what she wanted out of him. She was sly and always knew her way around his defenses.

Natasha huffed. “Alright, alright. I’m just saying maybe it’s not such a bad idea.”

“It’s been nearly a year, I don’t think seeking help from a support group is the right path at this point.”

“It’s helping Bucky,” she shrugged.

“Next time I see that prick, I am going to have words with him.”

“He’s not so bad,” she said. “I think you’d find a friend in him.”

“I do not need support,” he told her.

“I’m still going to be here no matter what you say.”

He sighed.

“No matter, we will not speak of this again.” He said.

Natasha stood up. “Fine, you stubborn ass.”

He rolled his eyes. She kicked him lightly in the leg and walked to the door.

“You know where to find me.”

He nodded at her and she bid him goodnight before leaving.

As the door closed, he suddenly felt very alone, more than before. A cold shiver went up his spine and he let out a long breath. There was nowhere he could run away to at that moment which made his chest feel tight again.

“Gods, damn this life to hell.”


	6. Turn Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> **PLEASE READ!**  
>   
> 
> I know it’s been a little over a year since I last updated this. I would list all the things that have happened in between which have prevented me from working on this story but truthfully, it’s not important anymore. What’s important is that I finally had both the time AND motivation to write again. Also, I’m sorry I said I was going to update this in March and I was going to but I spilled wine on my laptop and it took ages for me to get it repaired. So, sorry for that too.
> 
> I promise I’ll try my hardest to make the next update much shorter. Between uni work and my personal life, time to write is so hard to find, especially with a story as complicatedly woven as this one. Writing and editing this story is a feat and a half due to the storylines and character developments. This chapter in particular was also very hard to write, between scene changes and character interactions, editing is a bitch. It is the longest chapter I’ve written yet.
> 
>  **This chapter’s length is 11,101 words.**  
>     
> I’ve also changed some of the previous chapters by adding more information into some scenes. They are important to a degree but you re-reading them are not life or death. Also, in case anyone gets confused when reading this story, high school starts in September and end in June. I live in London and that's when high school starts and ends in England. It actually always ends in July but senior years end in June which is why their senior year in this story ends then too.
> 
> Sorry for typos or anything, I have read over this chapter thousands of times but thought I’ll just publish it because you’ve waited so long. I don’t want to rush the development also so I hope you guys like it. More flashbacks as every chapter progresses!
> 
> (Note: Chapter notes at the end will contain spoilers for Logan and recent MCU films Infinity War, Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok.)
> 
> Okay, finally.
> 
> Here’s Chapter 6.

**A chapter dedicated to our Loki.**

 

 

 

~Shades Of Grey~

**Turn Blue**

Bruce was never particularly fond of exercise.

Cap and Thor were constantly comparing bicep sizes, mostly Thor who was getting conscious about Steve’s growing body and were always asking him to join them at the gym, Thor mostly. He always refused but they did not let up, and it wasn’t because he was lazy. He was simply too preoccupied.

He did start to notice a brunette girl frequenting the university gym whenever he had to meet with either of the guys by the sports building. She was beautiful, and Bruce found himself often thinking of her more and more. He thought maybe it’d be worth it to take up Cap and Thor’s offer and go and work out for once.

However, he didn’t see the point of wasting his time jogging or spending hours at the gym trying to enlarge his biceps to gawk at some girl. He wasn’t a pervert. Plus, it would just give Thor permission to boss him around about working out.

He didn’t know why he was so insistent sometimes, he never really did need much exercise. He got enough of that at the lab, lifting heavy objects and running around trying to find pieces that would fit together.

And it was at the lab currently that Tony was frustrating him out of his thoughts by talking at length about his infamous roommate, Loki.

It was nearing midnight. The lab was filled with the sound of Led Zeppelin blasting through Tony’s speakers accompanied by the scraping of metal loudly filling the room. But even more so was the sound of Tony’s incessant yapping.

“I mean, the guy’s obviously crying out for a friend but he just doesn’t want to admit it,” Tony complained.

Bruce rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time as he played with a spanner, watching Tony on his back working underneath the machinery of their near-completed robot.

“If ever there was a prize for being prideful, he’d win hands won,” he continued, “what’s the point of being my roommate if you aren’t even gonna talk to me, ya know?”

He rolled himself out on the creeper from under the machine and sat up, facing Bruce with oil smears on his face and white vest.

“Are you done?” Bruce asked, crossing his arms and raising a brow.

“No, the wiring’s being a bitch,” Tony said and got up.

Bruce sighed. “I meant are you done whining about your boyfriend?”

Tony looked at him. He walked over and punched him on the arm and started fiddling with the tools on the table that Bruce was leaning against.

“Did you hear about what happened last week?” Bruce turned to him.

Tony frowned. “About what?”

“Loki.”

“No, the guy never tells me anything,” Tony said.

“You’re not very good at keeping an eye, are you?” Bruce chuckled.

Tony pouted. “I’m not his guardian angel… contrary to what Thor thinks.”

Bruce smiled. Tony rolled his eyes and laid down on the creeper before wheeling himself underneath the machine once more.

“So… uh, what happened then?”

Bruce shrugged, still fiddling with a spanner. “I don’t know much, only what I heard from Steve.”

“How comes everyone knows but me? I’m the guy’s roommate!” Tony complained.

“You’re hardly the first person Loki would tell about his day,” Bruce scoffed.

“But Steve? He doesn’t even talk to the guy!”

“I know, although he’s probably dead now for even telling me,” Bruce sighed, staring at the tool in his hand. “Loki was at a support group last week, apparently.”

The machine works stopped as Tony was silent for a moment. Bruce’s eyes flicked up slightly, watching Tony. A moment later, he wheeled out from under the machine, sitting up and gave Bruce a suspicious look.

“Are you fucking with me?” Tony frowned.

Bruce shook his head and put the spanner down. “Steve has a friend who was there.”

“Loki…at a support group?”

“You didn’t hear that from me,” Bruce put up his hands and walked over to the machine and started working on its motherboard.

“Y–you… you think it’s about… you know?” Tony asked, getting up and walking over to Bruce.

“Alexei? Most probably,” he answered, “But it’s been seven months.”

“Yeah, but it was a pretty rough couple of months, Thor was weird that whole time, remember? Always skulking around, short tempered and gloomy… and I swear to you, I don’t know if it was just me, but it always rained whenever he got mad. Some pathetic fallacy shit right there.”

“They never mention it,” Bruce shrugged, “you think Loki’s still having trouble about it?”

Tony tapped his chin, thinking.

It wasn’t completely out of the question, although Loki wasn’t someone to get easily affected by anything. Well, except for that whole finding out about his adoption thing.

And yes, that whole Alexei situation did also fuck him up for a while. Well, it fucked with Thor’s whole family if he was being honest. Loki rarely interacted with anyone during that time, and that was saying something as he never really talked to anyone besides Natasha and the occasional freshman who got in his way in the school halls.

He remembered how depressing and tense a time that was, even for him. He hadn’t been directly involved but with Thor’s mood always being less than stellar, he couldn’t help but be dampened by the lack of high spirits in the air everyday at school. Thor’s stories of Loki being even more morose at home didn’t help. Thor told them everything and Tony couldn’t say anything about it even if he wanted to. Steve always said that Thor needed them to listen, not sweep problems under the rug.

He felt Loki would slice his throat in his sleep if he knew all the things Tony knew about him. Thor would be first to go of course, but Tony knew he’d follow soon after. It wasn’t even an exaggeration as it was common knowledge that Loki was as dangerous as an untamed lion in a cell full of meat.

He remembered one incident in which a sophomore cut in line in front of him in the canteen and Loki grabbed him and slammed him against the wall, about to throw a punch before Clint and Thor pulled him off the scared boy. Loki was a strong guy, the boy was lucky he didn’t get a concussion after how hard the impact was. It scared everyone in the vicinity, and students had scrambled to clear a path for the hot headed Odinson as he stormed out the room, Tony noting two boys who had tripped over themselves trying to back up as Loki came closer.

Everyone knew something had happened between him and Alexei, it wasn’t really a secret although no one knew the details; only that Alexei had gone off his rocker. Hardly anyone had questioned Loki about it since they were all afraid of setting him off. That and because Thor seemed particularly peeved too and he knew no one would enjoy receiving a broken nose from the older Odinson for being nosey or for getting into his little brother’s business.

Safe to say, Loki had gone slightly erratic. Thor said he hardly spoke to the family whilst he was at home. Their mother always tried to comfort him but he’d never open up. The only person who knew more than Loki himself was Natasha and even she refused to tell them anything about what was said between her and Loki, especially to Thor.

“ _Loyal companions are hard to come by_ ,” Thor would tell her, “ _But for the sake of my brother’s sanity, I need to know how he is_.”

Natasha would just shrug and shake her head, in which Thor would glare at her and storm off after his pleading was getting him nowhere.

It wasn’t a secret why they got along so well. Natasha was stubborn and didn’t take any shit from anybody, just like Loki. Her parentage was also mysterious, and the only thing she told them was that she too was adopted; by Russian parents who emigrated to America when she was twelve. Maybe Loki found comfort knowing she knew what it was to feel like an outcast in her own family.

For this, Thor was slightly jealous at how open Loki was with someone else who wasn’t him. They were brothers. But Loki refused to acknowledge this fact anymore. Tony recalled during their high school days how they would always listen to Thor complaining about Loki and at least one person telling him to shut up every ten minutes as they played on Tony’s Xbox.

Tony also recalled Thor telling them all in the cafeteria one day, heads ducked against the table so no one would hear, about his parents sending Loki to a shrink to help with his mental and emotional stability. Thor threatened to beat them bloody if they ever told anyone.

Loki was prideful. He knew he’d never agree to exposing himself like that to some stranger who was only doing it for money, not because they cared or actually listened. Especially about something so personal. It wasn’t something he could ever see Loki agreeing to participate in. To his surprise, Thor confirmed that Loki actually attended the sessions. He stopped going after a month which was when he reverted to his old snarky and sassy self.

Every time they all came over to Thor’s house to hang out, Loki would be in the living room reading books and listening to whatever non-classic rock bullshit he liked that Tony always hated. He looked calmer and less stressed than he did a month prior. Thor and his folks were over the moon, thinking that the sessions worked.

After that, no one spoke a word about it.

“It’s possible,” Tony finally concluded, still tapping his chin. “Does Thor know?”

They both looked at each other. There was a silence as they both mulled it over before they both shook their heads.

“Nah,” Bruce said, “He hasn’t talked about Loki recently. I doubt it.”

Tony nodded and lay down on the creeper again, wheeling himself under the machine. It was starting to give him a headache.

“Are we gonna tell him?”

Bruce scoffed. “Is that even a good idea?”

Tony started tinkering with the wires. “Is telling Thor _anything_ a good idea? He always freaks out when it comes to Loki.”

“If Natasha didn’t tell him, it isn’t our fault. Plus, we shouldn’t even know about this anyway,” Bruce said, not liking the thought of being scolded.

“I like the way you think, Brucie.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Gotcha.”

 

 

 

oOo

Loki woke up feeling numb. He didn’t want to do anything today, as usual, but he felt like he should do something productive just to ward off the feeling of guilt that had settled in his stomach during the last week from being lazy. He started his morning, in his opinion, the best way to start any day he felt stressed; with a cup of hot coffee. He spent the majority of the morning in bed reading with a mug in hand, before deciding to head to the library just before it hit one o’clock to get his head sorted.

It had been a week since he had seen Thor and a week since Tony had spoken to him properly. The last time they had actually had a conversation was after Loki had told him to stay away. It wasn’t that Tony had listened; he was never in bed when Loki woke up and never came back before Loki went to sleep. The few times he did see Tony was when he came back in the early morning, waking Loki up but the latter never made sure to let Tony know he did as it would invite a conversation. And the last thing he wanted was an argument at 3 am.

Tony seemed quieter than usual and he always looked like he was thinking, casually giving Loki the occasional sneaky glance before turning back to what he was doing. Loki, getting suspicious by the day, was on the verge of asking him what the hell was going on but then realised that this was probably the only time in Tony’s life that he had been quiet so he just let it go and appreciated the peacefulness.

He didn’t even come home drunk anymore…well at least not every night, the weekend was the only exception and it was then that Tony had actually spoken any real words to him that indicated that Tony was still Tony; an annoying pain in the ass and an illiterate drunken idiot.

Along with Tony’s unusual behaviour, Amora had started ignoring him altogether. She would glare at him whenever he saw her from a distance or give him the side eye but it seemed she didn’t care anymore. Not that he was worried at all, he knew she was still put off by their argument but he didn’t really feel like talking to her again when he knew she was being the unreasonable one.

He had wanted to talk to Natasha the day after their conversation about Bucky, but Amora had answered the door and she didn’t speak one word to him, only stood there, arms crossed and looked ready to kill. He walked away after a moment of realisation that Natasha wasn’t there and she slammed the door as he left. He went back to his own room and wondered where she could be.

He wanted to clear some things up with her about what had occurred when he went to _that_ meeting. He thought on it long and hard as soon as Natasha left his room and he wanted to make sure she didn’t tell anybody, not even Clint who she shared many secrets with. Although she would threaten to kill him if he spilled anything, he was prone to being a little mouthy whenever he got drunk. He knew that he told her it was a mistake and didn’t mean anything, but if it ever got back to Thor about where he was, some drama would definitely ensue.

Speaking of the devil, his phone buzzed silently in his pocket and he slipped it out to check. It was a text from Thor.

**_Loki, I need to talk to you._ **

He scoffed under his breath and slipped it back into his pocket, ignoring it completely.

He clutched the books and folder he held close to his chest and turned the corner out of view from his building, making his way to the library feeling slightly anxious.

He found his way around easily enough, only once having to stop to check if he really was going in the right direction before continuing with his journey. The first building he had bothered to memorise the way to was the library on his third day here after having settled in, considering it was the most peaceful place in the campus without having to see people making out or noisy students talking loudly in the cafeteria or around the grounds.

Although, he had seen the middle-aged librarian catching a couple during their intimate moments behind a secluded area his second time visiting the place two weeks ago and safe to say, they hadn’t come back after being dragged through the place half naked by their shirts by the campus security before being thrown out. Loki had taken their place behind the tall shelves of books where no one could find him. It was private, and rarely anyone ever went up there unless they needed help on stitching or knitting.

Loki passed through the doors and instantly revelled in the silence of the place. A few students were sitting on the tables in the centre of the room. The librarian smiled, then continued typing furiously away at the desk where she would occasionally cast her eyes across the room, then to the upper floor, then to the top floor. Loki wondered how she could see so high up but didn’t dare ask in case she got suspicious and started to keep an eye on him. She probably had so many years of practice looking out for any shady behaviour from students that have passed by through the years that maybe she just _knew_ what they were doing.

He walked towards the stairs and made his way to the second floor, then continued up to the top floor. He looked around to find that only a few people were there but he didn’t spot anyone towards the area where the neglected book shelves were. He went over and weaved through the maze of books before settling at his usual hidden spot next to the arts and crafts section. From his position, he couldn’t see anything at the end besides another book shelf which showed that no one could see him. Settling down his shoulder bag, he took out his heavy copy of _The Count of Monte Cristo_ and started from the dog eared page. They were studying the long book before moving onto the Shakespearean literature and Loki couldn’t wait.

He had already read this book twice during the summer before his senior year, much to the dismay of Thor who had barged into his room a total of eleven times asking if Loki wanted to come out and hang out with him and his friends. Loki had always refused, instead making remarks about how he had better things to do than play, and Thor always left with his head hung low.

He rolled his eyes inwardly at how childish it all was. He shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and focused on the page he was reading. He remembered reading this passage so many times before but he still enjoyed it as he did the very first time he read it. It was actually Odin who had given him the book from his library all those years ago when Frigga was in the middle of spring cleaning. She always nagged him about cleaning out his study, especially his bookshelves which were collecting dust. He was getting rid of all the publications he had horded on the top shelves, and Loki was the one who received the three boxes full of novels he didn’t want anymore. It wasn’t like Thor needed them so Loki got full ownership over them all. He made a full list of all the books he got and had managed to tick every single one off by the time he started senior year, three and a half years later.

He had heavily favoured the writing of the world’s most famous playwright, but recently he’d been leaning more towards Dumas’ writings. After reading most of Shakespeare’s books twice since the start of high school, he decided he wanted to broaden his selections further and branched out, leaping from Romeo and Juliet to The Three Musketeers.

Books were the only escape he provided himself. He’d always been an avid reader ever since he could remember but it was only until he started high school when he began to appreciate them more. Since growing more mature and experiencing the tumultuous ride his family and school life provided, he never felt more at ease than when he was reading. It was a cliché to say the least, he knew but he found that there was something in experiencing someone else’s troubles that made him feel better able to cope with his own situation.

For a time, there was also another in his life which provided such relief but he shuddered at the thought. He vowed never to speak about what had occurred, and damn Natasha for making him break his promise, but he knew it would haunt him still.

It had been nearly a year so wounds were still fresh, Loki hated to admit. He had started to heal within himself but he knew things would find a way to come back.

All memories have a nasty habit of staying with us till our last breath, no matter how much we’ve moved on from them. Loki wasn’t one to dwell on things that made him feel defeated, but he too had a nasty habit of straying into dangerous thoughts without restraint.

…

 

 

 

oOo

It was just after half past twelve in the afternoon when Tony finally decided to leave the lab. Bruce had left a few hours prior, knowing he got cranky whenever he didn’t get enough sleep. He put away all the scattered tools they had used, locking up the cupboards and metal drawers, putting a blanket over the machine they had worked on.

There was a class coming in soon and he knew Professor Lee would be agitated if he didn’t clean up beforehand. He turned off the light at his station and exited the room, putting on his button up shirt over his tank top, leaving it open so that the fresh air could cool his skin down. It didn’t take him long to exit the building. It was stuffy working in a robotics lab for hours on end and he was grateful to finally be out in the sun again.

He could see the campus starting to come alive, with students starting their day rushing to their lectures and seminars. He wanted to go nap for a bit, but he had spent a few hours getting some shut eye in the lab before, so he knew trying to get some sleep wouldn’t work. Not for a few hours, anyway. He needed to tire himself out first.

He popped a piece of gum into his mouth from his pocket and let out a deep sigh.

He thought to go and see what Clint was up to, although if true to Barton fashion, he would still have his head under the blankets. It was only half twelve in the afternoon, after all, and Clint never woke up until way after midday on his days off.

 Maybe he should go see Steve, he did have Thursdays free if he recalled. He made his way to the dorm building, wondering if Loki was still there. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway, he had been strangely quiet and unenthusiastic recently that it wasn’t fun bickering with him anymore.

He had made it halfway across campus when he spotted a giant blond coming across the courtyard, waving at him. Tony rolled his eyes, stopping in his tracks and cradling his head in his hand and started chewing his gum faster.

_It’s too early for this._

“Tony!”

Tony walked slower, waiting for the other to meet him halfway.

“Thor, what’s got you up so early today?”

Thor sighed, hands on hips.

“Well, I thought I would take an afternoon jog today to clear my head,” Thor explained.

Tony’s brows raised. “What’s eatin’ you?”

“Mother called me last night asking how Loki was and I couldn’t tell her that I hadn’t seen my brother in a week or she would’ve been worried. So, I tried texting him just a minute ago and he has not replied.”

Tony scratched his head, knowing Loki would not reply to that, but commended Thor for trying.

“Wow, seems…complicated.”

“Have you spoken to him?”

“He and I exchange a few words here and there,” Tony recalled the hostile – on Loki’s part – and short remarks they would exchange on the rare occasions they were awake at the same time.

“Do you know where he is? I need to go see him,” Thor said.

Tony thought that wouldn’t be the best idea considering the way Loki had been acting recently. If what he and Bruce had discussed earlier about Loki showing up at the support group had been true, maybe now was not the best time for Thor to go and see him, in case he provoked Loki even more.

Despite Tony’s obvious carelessness regarding relationships and ignorance on matters of emotional wellbeing, he did care about Thor. He was one of his best friends, and he didn’t want to make things worse between him and his estranged brother. He hated the negative energy Thor radiated every time Loki came up, and he was sure contacting Loki was a very bad idea.

“Uh, I’m not sure that’s a great idea right now, big guy.”

He just needed to find a way to tell Thor to leave it alone without making him worry more.

“Why not? Is he alright? What has happened?”

Tony sighed. “He’s fine, he’s just been a real bitchy mood lately, and that’s saying something.”

“I just…I need to know how he is.”

At that moment, Tony spotted a tall, dark-haired figure walking in the distance over Thor’s shoulder. He watched Loki walk for a moment, and Thor followed his line of sight. His eyes widened in surprise, and he made a move to call out to him.

“Lok–!”

Tony put a hand on Thor’s shoulder to stop him, and the blond did so, turning to look back at Tony.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Thor frowned.

“I need to talk to him, Tony. I need to apologise for what happened and to tell him to call home.”

Tony sighed again. “You know your brother, he’s very stubborn. He hasn’t been in the best mood with you since what happened and visiting him would just make him more agitated.”

Thor took a deep breath.

“You are right. It’s just… I don’t want anything to happen to him if I’m not there to protect him.”

“I know but I’m telling you he’s fine.”

Thor looked back at Loki, watching him walk with his books in hand. His eyes flicked over to a figure walking not too far behind him, and Tony’s eyes narrowed to see who it was.

“Is that…?” Tony started.

“Thanos,” Thor finished, the name dripping off his tongue non-too-pleasantly. “Amora warned me about him. Do you think Loki likes him?”

Thor turned back to Tony when his brother disappeared around the corner.

“I–uh… probably,” Tony sputtered. “I mean, they’ve been on one date, that’s not even serious.”

“He is bad news,” Thor scoffed. “I will not have Loki fraternize with him.”

“What exactly did you hear about him?”

“Amora knows of him through a mutual friend, he is not good news.”

“Is that all she said?”

“She would not elaborate, not that she needed to.”

“Tut tut, judging a book by their cover there, Point Break?”

Thor crossed his arms again. “You need to go follow him and see he’s not causing Loki any trouble.”

“Wha–me? I’m not your brother’s fuckin’ bodyguard!”

“Not a bodyguard,” Thor defended. “Just simply check he’s okay and steer him away from that Thanos.”

Tony frowned. Thor raised a thick, blond brow and Tony’s face hardened.

“What do you want me to do? Follow him around and make sure he never runs into one person in case I need to fly in there and save him if he gets into trouble? Believe it or not, I have a life.”

Tony was about to walk away when Thor put a hand on his chest and pushed him back.

_Damn him and those muscles._

“I did not say to follow him around. Just go see if he’s okay for now and tell me where he is. And subtly tell him to contact home, that’s all.”

“That’s all? You’re making me into your brother’s own personal stalker, and quite frankly, he’s not all that interesting,” Tony grumbled.

He thought that maybe Loki going to that meeting meant that he was having trouble again (although it seemed like such an un-Loki thing to do) and that he might have needed someone to look out for him but no way in hell was it supposed to be him.

“Please, Tony. It is as you said, he does not want to see me right now. I just… I need to know he is okay. And Mother told me she has some urgent news for him.”

But then again, Thor relied on him even just for a bit of news on his little brother. God knew when it came to Loki, Natasha’s loyalties were to the dark-haired brother and it was harder for Thor to get information out of her than it was for him to get Loki to give him a smile. Whatever Loki wanted to keep from Thor, Natasha would take it to her grave.

Tony threw his hands in the air, groaning heavily. If he was going to be told to do anything, he was going to complain first.

“Jesus Christ, I’m running a babysitting service here.”

“Tis’ just a small favour,” Thor reminded him. “Remember?”

“You’re a sadistic bastard,” Tony narrowed his eyes at Thor who only grinned back at him.

“This will not be forgotten, Tony.”

Tony crossed his arms, frowning heavily.

“You owe me a massive fucking blowjob for this,” he grunted.

Thor made a sour face, but Tony was already walking off to go get his errand over and done with.

 _Check to see he’s okay and tell him to call home,_ that’s all he had to do.

He jogged slightly to catch up with Thanos, knowing he was following Loki wherever he was going. He had an inkling of where he was going to be headed at this time of day, so he followed Thanos at a distance for a few minutes, and he was right.

He turned the corner and saw the library building in view, some students already scattered across the front lawn resting and reading in the morning sun.

He saw Thanos go inside, and he reached the entrance a minute later. He passed through the alarmed doors and stopped next to the librarian’s desk just opposite, looking around. It was a massive library, with six floors and shelves upon shelves of every book you would ever need.

He did a three-sixty turn to take in his surroundings, seeing if he could spot Loki. He didn’t, but he saw Thanos had made himself comfortable on a couch over at the far end of the open room, talking with a few other people who probably waved him over for a quick catch up, and Tony was grateful for their distraction so he wouldn’t need to embarrass himself in front of Thanos too in the case that he did manage to find Loki and got told to fuck off before he even got a chance to talk.

He continued into the library, sighing deeply to himself before starting his search for a certain raven-haired individual.

 

 

 

oOo

…

Loki remembered that day so clearly. He still hadn’t decided whether he regretted it or not, but he remembered it.

~*~

**Mid July, end of junior year.**

_Loki was only seventeen when they met._

_It was a breezy July day when he decided to leave the house._

_It was 8pm, the sun was still shining and Frigga had just prepared supper. They frequently had to have late dinners due to Odin always having to work, even if he was already home._

_Loki didn’t think he could take another family gathering in the dining room, especially from last night when him and Odin had an argument about damn mash and peas. He couldn’t exactly remember what was said but he did not fancy having another round._

_He grunted an excuse to his mother who probably didn’t have the energy to argue with him about skipping the dinner she had prepared with Thor. Odin was in his study and would probably be mad when he saw that Loki was absent but he didn’t give a damn._

_As soon as the door clicked shut behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief to finally be out. Every time he entered his ‘home’, he would always feel that the air was different. It felt tense and excruciating and suffocating. The only refuge from asphyxiation was his bedroom._

_He hated whenever Thor burst in there to announce something Loki had no interest in. He felt like the blond tainted it whenever he came in and he didn’t want anything to ruin his space, especially not Thor’s ‘germs’. He knew it was childish but he couldn’t help it._

_Even before his relationship with Thor turned completely sour from the revelation of his birth, he used to always come in and lay on Loki’s bed asking to play football in the garden. He remembered one time he had invited Sigyn, a girl from middle school whom he fancied, over to the house and Frigga let them up to his room but with the condition of having the door stay open. True to Loki’s nature, he had shut the door but Thor came bounding in, speaking loudly about a Pop Tart he had prepared in the kitchen and caught Loki and Sigyn sitting against the foot of his bed, mid-way to kissing as he had his arms wrapped around her._

_Loki had jumped so high Thor couldn’t stop laughing. Sigyn was left blushing and tried to hide her face behind Loki’s duvet. As a twelve year old, he was pretty embarrassed about it. But now, it was just a dull memory in the back of his mind._

_He found himself walking in a familiar direction. He didn’t have to think about it, having run away to this place many times over the years when things became too overwhelming at the house._

_Not two minutes later, he arrived. He stood by the gated entrance, the metal rusting off its hinges but still functioning, somehow. He stared over at the view, the countless headstones staring back at him._

_The cemetery was empty as usual, and Loki stayed there for a few moments, wishing it was already sunset. The sunset was beautiful here; the sun behind the horizon slowly disappearing bit by bit, making the lifeless expanse seem somewhat less harrowing. He stared out over the horizon after what seemed like ages, the wind passing through his skin like water on rock._

_He didn’t shiver; he was used to the cold._

_He trudged forward and let the metal gate swing close behind him, making a rusty clanging sound. The path he took was familiar, not needing to think about whether it was the right way or not._

_He felt at home here, even if it was dead._

_As he got closer, he spotted the familiar grey headstone just ahead, half-covered in moss. There was a lone withering white flower placed carefully on the grave from the last time Loki had come there a week before._

_He knelt in front of it and reached out to caress the name etched on the headstone. His long white fingers looked peculiar next to the dull grey and he thought about how much colour had left his world. His heart suddenly felt heavy and he sighed deeply, eyes trained on the etched words._

_How morose, he thought to himself._

_“Fenrir, huh?”_

_Loki’s head whipped around, nearly falling back from his knees as he turned to look at the voice from behind him._

_A tall, olive-skinned young man stood before him, only slightly taller than himself, small smirk plastered on his face along with a lit cigarette dangling between his lips. His hands were stuffed ever so loosely in his trouser pockets, and stance so relaxed Loki thought he would have been knocked over had the wind been slightly stronger._

_There was a moment of awkward silence, the man staring down at Loki without breaking eye contact. The smoke from the cigarette wafted along towards him, the wind blowing it slightly closer than Loki cared for, but he watched it float, its weightlessness suddenly enchanting him._

_“Mine was called Vera, she was a German Shepherd,” the stranger finally broke the silence._

_Loki didn’t know what to say, or who even this person was; so, he pulled his jacket tighter around himself and turned back to look at the headstone. Another moment later, he heard some leaves rustle and he titled his head ever so slightly to look behind him. The stranger had taken a few steps back from where he originally stood, still in the same stance. Loki blinked once, turned back once more and the footsteps rustled again until it disappeared out of sight and out of mind._

_Loki did not have to turn again to know he was alone once more._

~*~

Loki remembered their first encounter like it was yesterday. He did not know it then, but that mysterious stranger he had been so reluctant to interact with that day had changed his life so drastically in the past year that it was crazy to think about the both of them being so unfamiliar with each other.

But they were strangers then, just like they were now.

Loki sighed, wondering where it all went wrong. He could’ve attributed that to the time he found out about his adoption, or maybe the moment he met Alexei, or maybe even before that when he was born. He chuckled to himself, thinking that maybe his life really was a series of unfortunate events, one that had no cause except for his existence alone. It had been a long time since he felt at peace; unbothered and still.

For the past few years, it had been drama, drama and even more drama. It was like a bad telenovela gone wrong. He couldn’t even remember a time where he and Thor had had a proper conversation without any snarky attitude or bad language being involved. Probably when they were children, before he found out about his family’s secrets and before he developed his cold outlook on life and people in general.

Seeing Thor everyday just reminded him of the betrayal he felt, with his perfect parents (God knew they didn’t have the same ones) and all his ten thousand friends at school and teachers who always compared him to his ‘better’ half. Everywhere he went it was like having to double his efforts against those who looked at him and saw a weaker and lesser version of Thor. Seeing his brother’s face everywhere he went was like a never-ending weight on his back about his inability to measure up to the divine being that was Thor Odinson.

Thor was perfect. And Loki…was Loki.

It was hard having to deal with all that on his own. Of course, this was before he found Alexei who shared his common concern and spite for those who surrounded them. Neither of them had family nor friends who they could rely on, only each other which was why it had been devastating to Loki when things went south. He remembered thinking that he and Alexei were meant to be; romantically or platonically, they belonged together.

Loki recalled feeling like they would last for a long time, if not forever – because come on, no one was that naïve.

But he had been. He had been so engrossed and, he hated to admit it, emotionally reliant on his relationship that when it came shattering down, he didn’t know whether to pick up the pieces or to get up and bandage all his cuts and bruises and move on. All he knew was that by the end, it was just him versus the world again.

He weighed in his mind who had hurt him more; his family or the love of his life. He settled for a draw and set it to the back of his mind.

He looked down at the page he was on, perusing it to try and remember which line he had been on.

Damn his thoughts for running away again.

He looked for another few seconds before finding it, marking it with his finger and started to read once more, hoping that his mind would stay focused on the task he came here to do.

A chair scraped across the table, making him look up abruptly, surprised. His face turned from confused to hostile in a millisecond. A smirking Tony Stark sat across from him, leaning back calmly on the chair, chewing mindlessly on a piece of gum, staring right at him.

There was a moment of silence between them, Loki not knowing what to say, thinking Tony would break the ice first as he always did. Once again, Loki couldn’t rely on him.

“What are you doing here?”

Tony raised a brow, smirk widening as he leaned forward across the table, chewing his gum quicker.

“What am I doing where?” Tony shrugged.

Loki rolled his eyes. “What are you doing in the library?”

“The libra–do you take me for some kind of uneducated wank?” Tony clutched his chest, frowning.

Loki raised a brow. Tony assumed his previous relaxed stance.

“Well, if you must know, I’m here looking for some books.”

“In the art section?”

“Hey, I paint when I have the time!”

Loki rolled his eyes again.

“Okay, why don’t you go find whatever books you’re in pursuit of and leave?”

Tony shrugged, staying silent.

“I’m not a librarian, I can’t help you. Not that I would if I was.”

Tony continued to look at him, unmoving.

Loki sighed, exasperated. He lifted his book up, putting it in between his line of sight to avoid Tony’s gaze. There was no sound from across him, no protest or witty retort to be heard. A moment later, his eyes wondered to the top of the book, lowering it slightly to peek at Tony who was still looking at him, smirk never leaving his face. He looked back down, finding the line he was on.

A minute later, there was still silence. Loki looked over at Tony from the top of his book again, his smirk replaced by an innocent smile. Loki was taken aback for a second but didn’t show it. He didn’t think he would ever have associated innocence with Tony Stark but that was the only word he could describe the look he was giving him. It unnerved him and, quite frankly, creeped him out a little so he frowned and raised the book up again. He continued to read except this time, he wasn’t really reading.

A few moments later, he looked at Tony again, dropping his book lower this time. Tony’s head was inclined to the side, resting on the palm of his hand, innocent smile still on his face. Loki’s hand clenched the book slightly tighter, crinkling the pages. He gave up on hiding and just continued to ‘read’, the book resting on the table, his grip still hard.

There was a sigh from Tony and Loki groaned, giving up and shutting the book altogether.

“What the hell do you want, Stark?” Loki hissed in a hushed tone.

Tony chuckled, making Loki grit his teeth in annoyance.

“I just wanted to see what you do in your free time.”

Loki sighed hard. “Do your annoying antics come naturally or am I just its unfortunate victim?”

“Nah, you know you’re special, Loks,” Tony smiled. “Who else would be so worthy of my presence if not you, huh?”

“Please,” Loki scoffed. “I am not one of your mindless call girls following you around with open legs.”

Tony chuckled.

“Like I said, you’re special,” Tony winked at him.

“Why are you really here?”

Tony shrugged again, leaning back, arms crossed.

“We haven’t properly seen each other in weeks. I wanna know what you’ve been up to. How is Loki?” Tony said in such a condescending tone, Loki had to exercise self-control not to lean over and hit him over the head with his heavy book.

Loki chuckled, no hint of humour whatsoever and he knew that Tony knew that he was really starting to push his buttons deeper this time.

“You know, Stark one of these days no one will be around when we’re alone and I really will push through on my threat to murder you.”

Tony feigned hurt. “Now Loki, why would you say such a horrible and deeply hurtful thing like that?”

“Look Stark, I do not have time for any of your bullshit mind games so either tell me why you’re really here or depart from my sight.”

“I really just wanted to see you!”

“Gods, you are so frustrating.”

“Frustratingly sexy?” Tony bit his lip and winked.

“No, I just think you’re frustrating,” Loki gave him an unimpressed glare.

“Think about me much?”

“There are no words to describe how little I think about you, Stark.”

“Ah–ha! But you do think about me,” Tony exclaimed.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night. Now if you’ll excu–,” Loki opened his book once more to signal an end to the conversation, but he knew Tony’s stubbornness would prevail.

Tony put his hand on top of the book to close it, but Loki snatched it away.

“I’m just here to see how you are,” Tony said matter-of-factly.

Loki stopped, eyes scanning Tony’s face for a long moment. His green eyes narrowed, and he saw Tony’s jaw clench. Loki’s eyes flashed.

“What do you know?”

 

 

 

oOo

Steve walked briskly towards the centre of campus, enjoying the morning sun on his bare skin. He ignored the looks he was getting from the girls who walked past him, giggling and eyeing him up in his tight muscle-fit white shirt and grey sweatpants, keeping his eyes ahead of him.

It didn’t take him long to reach his destination, noticing the Xavier Mansion building just ahead, the second largest dormitory on campus. He saw his best friend making his way across the courtyard having spotted him not a moment ago. They exchanged nods and met halfway towards each other.

“What’s goin’ on, Buck?” Steve greeted.

Bucky was one of Steve’s oldest friends. They hadn’t seen each other for years, as Bucky had been adopted from their orphanage when they were eleven years old. They had lost contact with each other until they met again a few weeks ago. Steve had noticed him working out at the gym one late night on the first week and, needless to say, they were only too thrilled to be reunited. Bucky had been shocked to see Steve all grown up and no longer the weak little boy he had been when he last saw him.

During their time together at the orphanage, Steve was prime target for the older and much bigger kids as he had the strength of nothing more than a twig. Bucky would always come to his rescue and defend him whenever he got into trouble, even though Steve would always insist that he could handle bullies on his own.

Steve had been heartbroken when Bucky had to leave, although he was happy for him when those nice people had chosen to adopt him. He told Steve he would come back for him, but as time went on, it became harder to do so when Bucky’s adoptive family had moved to Russia for a few years before coming back to the country when he was sixteen. It had taken a whole week for the two of them to catch up on where they had both been since they last saw each other and were continuing to do so but Steve was grateful he was back, glad that they could finally resume their friendship.

Bucky sighed heavily, clutching at his right bicep, his metal fingers digging softly into the flesh.

“My arm’s playing up. Coach wanted me to take a week off before the tournament.”

Steve patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t want you losing your good arm, now do we?” Steve chuckled.

Bucky scoffed.

“Actually, _this_ ,” Bucky half-punched him on the shoulder with his left arm, “is my good arm.”

“I stand corrected.” Steve put up his hands and laughed.

Bucky half-smiled, continuing to rub his right arm. “You seen Nat lately?”

Steve nodded. “Yeah, I think she’s with Clint at our dorm. Why?”

“She texted me that I should come hang out with you guys later.”

“Yeah, everyone’s gonna be at the dorm lounge later, you should come.”

“I might go, Nat said she had to talk to me about something.”

“Did she say about what?”

“You know her, never says anything unless it’s in person.” Bucky shrugged. “Although she did specifically tell me not to talk to your friend Thor.”

“Thor?” Steve frowned. “Why would…oh.”

“What?”

“It must be about Loki.”

“Loki? That guy I met last week?”

“Yeah, he’s uh, Thor’s brother. It’s a long story.”

“Sounds fascinating.”

“Hey, speak of the devil.”

Steve spotted the blond not too far away, and Bucky leaned over his shoulder to catch a glimpse. Thor was making his way towards them, skin and muscles glistening with sweat under the sun.

“Hey, man. Where you been?” Steve asked.

Thor stood beside him, greeting him with a pat on the back.

“I went for a morning jog, who is this?” Thor looked at Bucky, giving the other a curious smile.

“Oh uh, Thor this is James Barnes – my best friend,” Steve motioned to Bucky, “and Buck, this is Thor Odinson.”

Thor held out his hand and Bucky took it without hesitation, giving each other a firm shake.

“James, great to meet you.” Thor smiled.

“Bucky’s fine,” he clarified.

“Very well,” Thor nodded. “How come we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting before?”

“Uh, me and Buck haven’t actually seen each other since we were kids. That’s why you’ve never met.” Steve explained.

Thor nodded, understanding. He gave both a smack on the back and remarked how happy he was for their reunion. Steve thanked him, chuckling at Thor’s usual jovial attitude. He was glad that the Loki situation hadn’t reached him… yet.

“What happened?” Thor gestured to Bucky’s obviously metallic arm.

Bucky ran his fingers across the metal, looking up at Thor after a few seconds.

“Car accident. Great conversation piece.” Bucky replied in such a deadpan tone, Thor would’ve blushed had Steve not started chuckling and shaking his head.

“So, where you headed?” Steve asked the blond, changing the topic.

“I was on an afternoon jog. Where are the both of you headed?” Thor asked.

Steve and Bucky exchanged shrugs.

“We didn’t really have anywhere in mind right now, but we were gonna come back to ours later and hang out.” Steve replied. “You gonna be in later?”

“Of course, Bruce and I have a pending foosball match scheduled for tonight,” Thor smiled, his grin already stating that he knew he would win. “It will be magnificent.”

“Sounds fun. Where are the others?”

“I presume Natasha and Clint will be at the dorm. Bruce is still in his room sleeping, he and Tony were working in the laboratories all night.”

Steve nodded, noting how little he had seen Bruce and Tony recently, but then again, they did like to shut off to play with their machines and gadgets for long periods of time.

“So, where’s Tony then?” Steve mused.

“I sent him off not too long ago,” Thor grinned, “he’s doing an errand for me.”

Steve chuckled. “Got him snooping on Loki, huh?”

Thor frowned. “How did you know?”

“If anything’s got you making Tony run around like a maid, it must be about Loki.” Steve smiled.

Thor rubbed his neck, heat creeping up his cheeks. “It is necessary.”

Steve saw Bucky’s confused frown.

“So,” Bucky started, “Loki’s your brother?”

Thor turned to him with a firm nod and a wistful smile. “That I am. Have you met him before?”

“Yeah, last week at my group meet–”

“At the library,” Steve remarked quickly, interrupting Bucky as both heads turned to look at him, “They met at the library last week, at that big student social, remember?”

Steve watched as Thor’s thick brows furrowed in confusion for a second, mulling over the information and Bucky gave him a questioning glance but Steve subtly nodded his head and he knew Bucky understood. Thor started to nod slowly, before a small smile formed on his face.

“Well, I’m glad Loki is finding time to socialise more,” He remarked.

Steve lightly chuckled, inwardly sighing in relief. They engaged in a few more minutes of conversation – Steve subtly trying to avoid the subject of Loki – before Thor left them to continue his afternoon jog. Steve waited for him to be out of earshot before he turned to his best friend, sighing again. Bucky raised a brow.

“What was that about?”

Steve shook his head. “You don’t wanna know.”

Bucky frowned for a second, then shrugged. “If it’s important, I’ll find out.”

Steve chuckled, nodding in agreement.

 

 

 

oOo

Tony made an overly confused expression, frown so tight on his forehead he worried the wrinkles would deepen as bad as his father’s had.

“What do you know?” Loki repeated, standing slightly up out of his chair.

Tony put his hands up. “What do you mean? Know what?”

Loki narrowed his eyes, the emerald specks flashing as he glared so coldly down at Tony that the latter was surprised he hadn’t turned blue.

“Why are you really here?” Loki’s voice raised slightly, standing fully now.

“Wha- I don’t- I told you, I just wanted to-”

Loki growled ever so subtly. “Whatever you think you know, you don’t. So stay out of my business.”

Tony was confused for a second, before realising why Loki was suddenly so suspicious.

_He’s irked because of what Bruce told you earlier._

A figurative lightbulb popped over Tony’s head. He couldn’t let Loki know what he knew, or Natasha would kill him for opening his big mouth then kill Steve for telling Bruce then kill Bruce for passing it on. He closed his mouth for a second before opening it again.

_You couldn’t have just told him the message and leave._

“Okay…” Tony dragged out the word on his tongue, feigning ignorance and stood up to meet Loki’s stare. “I don’t know what you think I think I know but it probably isn’t what you think I think I know because I don’t care that much about you to actually go out of my way to find shit out.”

After a few moments, Loki’s eyes calmed down, his body loosening slightly. Tony relaxed inwardly.

“Hm,” Loki gave him an unimpressed glare. “So why the hell are you here disturbing me then if you’re so uninterested?”

“Alright, alright,” Tony put his hands up again. “Thor told me your mom needs to talk to you about something really important. Thor didn’t wanna tell you himself so he asked me to.”

He thought it better to tell him the truth to throw him off. He wasn’t supposed to know about what Bruce had told him and he sure as hell didn’t want both Loki and Natasha out for his blood for simply knowing. Plus, it had nothing to do with the reason with why he was there in the first place, so it wasn’t like he was lying.

Loki was silent for a moment. A smirk grew on his face.

“So, he’s got you running around like his little errand dog, huh?”

Tony tensed up. A grimace grew on his face as he watched Loki smirking down at him.

“I owe your brother a favour, let’s just leave it at that,” he remarked, kissing his teeth in irritation.

“My, my. You must’ve done something very terrible to warrant your indulgence of my brother’s commands.”

“Not as terrible as it sounds but your brother’s a very delicate character when it comes to his heart. And strategic.”

Loki scoffed. “I am well aware.”

“I’m sure you do,” Tony smiled patronizingly, making Loki grimace in response.

“Is that all?”

Tony opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted.

“Hey Loki, I didn’t know you we-”

Both heads whipped to the side and saw Thanos standing by the end of the aisle, smile fading as realisation of Tony’s presence sunk in. His eyes flitted from Loki to Tony then Loki again.

 “Oh sorry,” Thanos started, “I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

Tony rolled his eyes inwardly. He saw Loki moving to reply but he smirked.

“Not at all, Loks and I were just having a discussion about his brother.”

“Do not call me ‘Loks’,” Loki whispered harshly.

“Oh,” Thanos looked confused but nodded it off. “That’s…interesting.”

“No worries, Stark was just leaving.”

Tony kept his eyes on Thanos. “Yeah, do you know Loki’s older brother? Thor?”

“Shut up, Stark.”

Thanos looked over at Loki. “Uh, no can’t say that I know him.”

“That’s weird, he’s pretty hard to miss,” Tony tapped his chin, tucking his chair in. “You know really tall, blonde hair, ginormous muscles, really protective, speaks exactly like Loki.”

Loki rolled his eyes, Thanos giving him a slow and perplexed nod and Tony had to fight to suppress a laugh. He started to walk towards the end of the aisle to leave and saw Loki giving him the finger but he turned back to Thanos.

“Erm, I might have seen him around.”

“He is of no importa-”

“Yeah, you might’ve. Well, if you see him you should come say hi. He’d love to meet his baby brother’s new boyfriend.”

He could literally feel the heat emanating from the dark-haired Odinson and as the words left his lips, he shot off like a bullet, nearly knocking a bookshelf over, past Thanos and narrowly missed the book Loki had hurled at his head as he ran.

He laughed all the way down to the ground floor, not looking back in case Loki had thoughts about running after him.

 

 

 

oOo

Natasha was on the verge of hitting someone. She was sitting in the common room with Amora and Clint. It was nearly 1pm in the afternoon. He was watching Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader reruns and was getting every question completely wrong.

She wanted to beat him over the head at how dumb he sounded. However, she stayed silent and resorted to watching him make a fool of himself. There were only a couple people around, luckily ignoring him and doing their own thing but it was still embarrassing every time he got it wrong.

She wondered what had gotten him up so early on his day off but he explained that he had an early morning archery club practice that ended not too long ago. The disruption to his sleep cycle causing lack of sleep was probably the reason for his lack of intellect watching the show.

“It’s Isaac Newton!” Clint shouted, gesturing at the television.

Natasha rolled her eyes, sighing. He had only had 6 hours sleep, she was surprised how much energy he had.

“Erm… actually,” Amora coughed, “it’s Albert Einstein.”

Clint looked at her, mouth slightly open and then looked back at the TV where the guest had answered Albert Einstein, and sure enough the host confirmed he was right.

Natasha raised a brow.

“W-well, that was just a badly worded question,” Clint scratched his head in embarrassment.

“You’re a badly educated guy,” Natasha scoffed and Clint turned around to glare at her.

Amora giggled. “I guess we know who’s _not_ smarter than a fifth grader.”

Clint pouted and Natasha snorted.

“What she said,” the redhead said, laying back on the sofa.

“I knew the answer, I just didn’t want to say,” Clint crossed his arms.

He moved closer to the television, sitting cross legged on the floor to get away from the two girls. Amora turned to Natasha.

“You spoken to Loki yet?” the blonde asked.

Natasha shook her head. “Not since last week. Didn’t want to piss him off even more.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had a small talk with him. I kinda upset him but nothing he won’t get over.”

Amora frowned. “A talk about what?”

“Nothing important,” Natasha lied, “Just stuff about Thor.”

“He’s such a drama queen,” Amora pouted, remembering the last time she and Loki had spoken.

“If you really knew Loki and what he’s been through, It’s not hard to understand why he is the way he is,” Natasha said.

Amora raised a brow. “At least he has parents. Me and Lor spent time going from foster home to foster home.”

“We all have our demons,” Natasha sighed, “Loki’s…goes deeper than those of family.”

 

 

 

oOo

Loki despised having pale skin sometimes. He knew his red cheeks were so evident that he wished he could’ve just hidden in a dark corner. But he wasn’t one to shy away, especially not from Tony’s antics.

He looked over at Thanos who started walking toward him after picking up the thrown book and watching Tony run out. He titled his head to the side with a half-smile.

“What was that about?”

Loki shook his head and returned the smile. “Nothing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Loki nodded, rubbing the side of his forehead. “Just my insufferable roommate.”

Thanos’ brows raised. “ _That_ was Tony Stark?”

Loki nodded, rolling his eyes.

“Well, he’s certainly better looking in real life. Bar the oil stains and all.”

“Don’t tell him that, his head’s big enough as it is.”

Thanos laughed and grabbed Tony’s seat. He slid the book across the table and Loki thanked him.

“What did he want?” Thanos crossed his arms, smiling politely.

“Just relaying a message,” Loki grimaced.

“Everything okay?” Thanos leaned forward, concern on his face.

Loki nodded again. He didn’t know what to say and what not to say, but he shrugged to show it was no big deal.

“Yes, my brother just had something to relay to me,” he explained. “What are you doing here?”

Thanos shrugged. “I was searching around the library for some books and I saw you so… here I am.”

“Was there anything you wanted to talk to me about?”

“No,” he shrugged again. “Just thought I’d say hello.”

Loki gave him a small smile. “Well I’m glad you came, Stark wouldn’t have left otherwise.”

Thanos chuckled, looking around the space for a second before turning back and giving him a thumbs up. He chuckled softly. He seemed very down-to-earth and Loki felt his annoyance at Thor rise for making him reject Thanos’ courtship. He wanted to get Thor off his back first, and so far, so good. His older brother hadn’t tried to interfere in his life in the past few weeks or even attempt to communicate – except earlier when he received that text. He wanted to be sure first that it wasn’t just an act before he broached the subject with Thanos again.

Thor had done this countless of times. No matter how many times Loki told him to leave him alone it never stuck.

He guessed that not telling Thor a single thing about what he was up to didn’t help. He knew it was just familial instinct and obligation to care and often, he did miss when he and his older brother were best friends…

 _But that was a long time ago,_ he pondered.

A feeling of sadness threatened to rise in his throat, but he refused to succumb, and he felt it disappear. He had years of experience pushing away emotions for his family, especially Thor and his father. He had too much pride and he wouldn’t yield to letting himself feel anything for them. It made him feel weak.

“Well I’m glad to be of service,” Thanos replied. “What was all that about your older brother he was talking about?”

Loki shook his head out of his thoughts, looking over to Thanos.

“He was just being difficult. Nothing’s changed since high school,” Loki rolled his eyes.

“Well, I hope I can take your mind off him,” Thanos grinned and Loki chuckled, “No funny business, I know you said you wanted to focus on work for a while.”

Loki nodded. “I hope I didn’t give you the wrong impression. I would like to go out again but maybe after I get all my deadlines sorted.”

He already had them sorted; he only had two which were seminar readings with a short formative assessment due in next week. He didn’t want to scare his new ‘friend’ away with the truth of Thor being a nosy and overprotective big brother.

“No worries, you don’t have to explain.”

“Don’t you have any deadlines from your seminars?”

Thanos nodded. “Yeah, I’m close to completing an assignment, it’s all just writing these days I need a break.”

Loki chuckled. “I guess that’s the burden of being a college student.”

“I’m just stressing about that short practice exam we have in a few weeks, it’s only been a month and everything’s so hectic.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage, you’re very intelligent.”

“You think so?” Thanos winked at him, “I always thought I was average.”

Loki let out a soft laugh. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you in any of our lectures recently.”

Thanos chuckled. “Were you looking for me?”

They smiled at each other, Loki willing himself not to blush. He had wished to start attending classes with Thanos but since they met, he had hardly come to the lectures. Loki himself had missed one or two so maybe he had missed him.

“I had wished to see you there,” he shrugged.

“Yeah, I’ve just been busy these days. My father’s in town for a few weeks and I had to go discuss some stuff with him.”

Loki nodded. They had discussed their families briefly on their date but not too much as he didn’t want to raise any personal questions or answer them, but he thought it was nice that Thanos got along well with his father.

“Ah, well that’s a substantial reason, I suppose.”

“Yeah, just some family stuff,” Thanos agreed, nodding off into silence for a moment before changing the subject. “Anyway, I wanted to ask if you’d wanna study with me sometime? I’ve missed a couple of classes and I need to catch up. Do you think you could help me?”

“Oh,” Loki straightened up, “Sure. It’d be my pleasure.”

“I mean, I don’t wanna take up your time but I would really appreciate it. I was thinking we could study for that practice test too. I mean my next few weeks are available… if you wished.”

Loki’s heart jumped. He didn’t know why he was starting to feel nervous, but he knew it was a mixture of excitement too.

“Of course, I’d like that.”

Thanos smiled. “Great.”

Loki didn’t want to be seen by Thor or any of his friends with Thanos since he was someone who Amora had warned the others of as she had told him, but hell, if they had a problem, they could say it to his face or just have to deal with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> One last note.
> 
> Everyone see Infinity War?
> 
>  **SPOILER ALERT FOR INFINITY WAR!  
> **  
> ...  
>  Seriously though, don’t read if you haven’t seen it!  
> …  
> I’m gonna go ahead and quickly rant.  
> …  
> Still here?  
> …  
> Okay I’m doing it.  
> …  
> Does everyone believe Loki really died? I mean, he may have and he may have not… He most likely did but he’s faked his death like a few times so…? Anyways, I saw it coming but I was still annoyed nonetheless. 
> 
> That scene with Tony nearly getting killed gave me multiple heart attacks. And that Thor entrance scene after he got a new hammer also gave me straight chills. And it’s so funny because I once told a few of my friends ‘wouldn’t it be cool if Peter Dinklage appeared in the MCU?” because Thor lost his hammer and I knew if he wanted to get a new one he might need to go to the Dwarfen planet to get another one forged in the heart of a dying star again and I thought about famous dwarves and thought about Dinklage and wondered if maybe it was too much of a stretch to get him in the film, but when he popped up on the screen I turned to my boyfriend and told him this same exact story haha
> 
> Gamora’s death was awful, I didn’t want her to die I loved her so much. The scene with Thor and the Guardians was pure comedy gold and the bit where Drax was like “Why is Gamora?” killed me. It obviously wasn’t a normal MCU film which is why it probably didn’t satisfy me as much as the other films. Due to obvious reasons, it made me feel so incomplete I hated it when the screen went dark and the film ended… but it was a fucking fantastic film for that many superheroes, they really handled it well and the MCU just keeps delivering.
> 
> Anyways, Black Panther was a fucking sick film also, made me cry so much; the soundtrack by Kendrick was fucking great. Representation really is so beautiful, the last part with the kid going up to T’Challa asking him who he was made me sob, not even kidding, I was sitting there trying to stop wailing but tears were pouring and my boyfriend was sitting there comforting me I was so glad it was dark lol. Ragnarok was the Thor film I’ve always wanted from the MCU and it delivered, especially since my favourite genre of music is classic rock and the use of the ‘Immigrant Song’ was so fucking fabulous, must applaud Taika for his genius. Valkyrie was awesome, Hela was awesome, the comedy was awesome, Thor was fucking sizzling with his short hair, Bruce was great as always and of course, Loki was amazing. He’s such a babe.
> 
> Also, not MCU but Logan, anyone? I also cried at the cinema when Prof. X got stabbed then it just kept getting worse. By the end, I couldn’t stop sobbing I was literally crying so hard I had to stay there for about 20 minutes trying to stop. When Laura turned the cross into an X on Logan’s grave, I sobbed even harder. Fucking Marvel, always playing with my feelings.
> 
> But bottom line, fuck them for killing off Loki (if he really is dead).
> 
> What did you guys think about the movies? And also this chapter! Let me know in the comments.


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